Last weekend Rising Star Football Academy Vietnam, starring players from BIS HCMC, played their first game against a strong HCMC FC side at RMIT University. The academy development team have been practicing together every Saturday for four months at RMIT University field as part of the only 11 A-Side football programme in Vietnam for mixed nationality players. 

British International School, HCMC, students Nick Schuster, Sidhnarth Prithviraj, Jacob Gleave, Tony Nguyen, Nick Gilmore, Floris Swinckles, Ryan Kim, Maxnam Jenks, Ben Gilmore and Andy Kim are all part of the team which brings together players from around the city.

Other players in the team include players from the African Team Vietnam, BVIS and ABC international schools as well as players from the local Vietnamese community. There uniting passion for football has over the past four months allowed them to create lasting friendships as well as helping each other develop their football ability to a level where they were confident to take on one of Ho Chi Minh City’s professional academy teams after Coach Long from Ho Chi Minh City FC U18 programme agreed to play against Rising Star Football Academy Vietnam in a friendly game last Saturday April 22nd 2017.

Starting Line up

GK - Tony Nguyen

2 - Jacob Gleave

3 - Stanley Amadi

4 - Nick Gilmore

5 - Aliu Ola

6 - Akeem Suleiman

7 - Floris Swinckles

8 - Nick Schuster

9 - Sid Prithviraj

10 - Olly Corfield

11 - Taofic Ossein

Substitutes

13 - Luy Nguyen Thanh

14 - Vansh Manek

15 - Harry (Nguyen Thanh Tung)

16 - Ben Gilmore

17 - Andy Kim

18 - Ze Ze (Quang Huy Nguyen)

The game started evenly with both teams having spells of possession and creating opportunities. Eventually RSFA Vietnam took a lead after very neat build up play starting in the middle third ending with a goal from Osseni Taofic after good team combinations and a total pass count of 12, the assist from Floris Swinckles. 

HCMC FC stepped up a gear after going behind and RSFA abandoned their short interchanges allowing HCMC FC to fire back 2 goals before half time in the blistering heat taking a 2-1 lead into half time.

The second half started with RSFA dominating possession returning to a policy of structured but effective build up, keeping the ball patiently but with attacking intent. Unfortunately RSFA conceded a further goal from a good shot from long range to go 3-1 down. Despite this the midfield trio raised their level and worked hard to create opportunities in the final third. After a succession of half chances RSFA built a structured overload down the right side with a good delivery to the edge of the box by Nick Schuster which was finished in emphatic style by Aliu Ola.

There were further opportunities for both teams to extend or draw level but after 90 minutes of fine football the referee's whistle drew the game to a close.

Final score: RSFA Vietnam 2 - HCMC FC 3

Football was the winner! Well done to all.

You can watch the full match here!

The game was the next step in the continued development of an 11 A-Side football programme for boys and girls of ages 12 - 19 in the city and we hope that more players will be inspired to join us in the future for practice sessions in the coming months and years.

In June as a result of this good performance against strong opposition RSFA Head Coach James McAloon and HCMC FC Head Coach Coach Long will partner to arrange a 4-6 team tournament at RMIT to further develop the competitive provision for 11 A-Side football in the city.

James McAloon, RSFA Head Coach