French coach Guillaume Graechen has had a strong attachment to Vietnamese youth football since 2007, when he started out with the Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) Arsenal JMG Academy. He has experienced all of the ups and downs that come with a training career, but is considered a symbol of HAGL youth football. Graechen,43, coached the national U19 team in 2014, finishing second in the AFF U19 Youth Championship, which had a strong effect on Vietnamese football. In 2019 he led the U19 national team to victory in the International U19 Football Tournament, and recently helped the U17 Nutifood HAGL team finish second in the National U17 Championship. He is expected to continue to unearth and train more talented young players for Vietnamese football in the future. Thanh Nga spoke with him. NOW & FOREVER: Graechen plans to live in Việt Nam after he retires. Inner Sanctum : Could you introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to work in Việt Nam? Before managing I played for Dijon, Angers, Sedan, and Romorantin. At the age of 29, Guillou Jean Marc contacted me through Dufour Vincent, who was my coach and is currently general manager of JMG Football. I accepted the proposal to become project manager in Việt Nam with HAGL. Inner Sanctum : You train young footballers at HAGL, you led HAGL in V.League 1, and you also coached national junior teams. Could you tell us about these jobs and the pressure that comes with them? It was an enriching experience professionally and culturally. Trainer and coach are two completely different jobs. Trainers have time to work with players without feeling pressure from results. It’s all about the pleasure of the game. As a U19 national team or V. League 1 coach, the question of time and results leads to more psychological work regarding the players, but the pleasure and the game must remain the same, though this is not always obvious. EYE TO THE FUTURE: Young players in the first …
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From saving hunger to world’s best rice title
Great power comes from a small grain of rice On January 26, Vinaseed's shipment of 60 tonnes of premium fragrant rice, imported by Longdan in the UK, hit the shelves of the supermarket chain with a retail price of up to £15.5 (VND465,000) per 10 kg. Longdan is the first enterprise to import rice from Vietnam after the UK - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) took effect. In the near future, there will be many enterprises importing Vietnamese rice under the agreement. Previously, on January 13, the first batch of 1,600 tonnes of rice, opening the 2021 export season of the Trung An Hi-tech Farming Joint Stock Company, was sent to Singapore and Malaysia at a price that could not be better, of up to US$750 per tonne. Pham Thai Binh, Director General of Trung An Hi-Tech Farming JSC, said the two types of rice exported in the shipment were Jasmine 85 fragrant rice and Huong Lai fragrant rice; of which, 450 tonnes of Jasmine 85 went to Singapore at US$680 per tonne and 1,150 tonnes of Huong Lai fragrant rice delivered to customers in Malaysia for US$750 a tonne. In addition to the above shipment, Trung An JSC also had an order of more than 2,000 tonnes exported to Germany, continuing to make effective use of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement that took effect last year. Those are the two shipments that successfully opened the new year for Vietnamese rice, with an expectation of more miracles in 2021 than the previous year. Rice exports in 2020 reached about 6.15 million tonnes, worth US$3.07 billion. Although rice exports decreased by about 3.5% compared to 2019, mainly to ensure national food security, export value increased by 9.3%. The average export price for the whole year is estimated to have been US$499 a tonne, an increase of 13.3% compared to 2019. Vietnamese rice prices have surpassed Thailand, rice has become a prized agricultural commodity with positive growth and is constantly being prioritised in the world market. Looking at the achievements …
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Bình Quới: traditional food, rural ambience
Just outside HCM City is Bình Quới Village, a rustic tourist area with a peaceful countryside vibe and a renowned buffet. Mỹ Duyên reports. The grill counter is the most visited spot at Khẩn Hoang Nam Bộ buffet where the cook in áo bà ba (black traditional costume), typical for men in the Mekong Delta, is preparing BBQ including seafood, river fish and snails in the southern manner. VNS Photos Minh Phi The Lunar New Year holiday ( Tết ) is time to gather family or friends and enjoy classic Vietnamese dishes made by moms in their hometowns. This year, however, the tradition changed because of the Covid 19 pandemic, so I decided to stay in the city with my children and have a special year-end meal at Bình Quới Village, about 5km from the city centre. It was a sunny evening when we arrived at the village. Walking on a small wooden bridge leading to the main entrance of the tourist complex, we felt as if we had returned to a country village. Set on lush garden-like grounds with lawns, coconut trees, creeks and thatched cottages, presenting a view of days gone by in Việt Nam's Mekong Delta region, Bình Quới has been a tourist destination of HCM City for decades. The long buffet table displaying different kinds of steamed rice cakes with stunning colours catches the eyes of diners as they pass the corner. Located on Thanh Đa Peninsula next to the Sài Gòn River, just outside the chaos and the bustle of the city, Bình Quới never fails to attract a large number of visitors thanks to its romantic landscapes and most importantly its unique buffet at an unbeatable price. With more than 80 traditional dishes of southern origin, the Khẩn Hoang Nam Bộ buffet never disappoints its loyal clientele who come back year after year for its fabulous flavours, especially BBQ items prepared in a southern manner. Launched in 1998 to mark the 300th anniversary of the establishment of Sài Gòn (now HCM City), the special buffet helps diners learn more …
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