The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has set a big goal for the U.22 Vietnam team at the 33rd SEA Games: Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will win the gold medal in men's football. VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan affirmed that careful preparation and thorough investment will help U.22 Vietnam confidently face challenges at the regional sports festival.
It is not wrong to say that the SEA Games is a challenging playground. Although some neighboring countries do not openly admit that they want their U.22 team to win the gold medal, in reality, the competition in regional football at the youth level is still extremely fierce. Fierce in a… secretive way, but the heat is not inferior to the competition of the national team.
As the host country of the 33rd SEA Games, Thailand will of course not participate in this race just for the purpose of competing, learning to improve and progress. When the Thai team just suffered a bitter defeat at the 2024 AFF Cup, President of the Football Association of Thailand Madam Pang did not want the U.22 Thailand team to leave empty-handed right on home ground. Even if they only finished second in the 33rd SEA Games, it could be considered a failure. The good thing about the 33rd SEA Games is that Thailand decided that the age group for men's football is U.22 instead of U.23+3, which means that Thailand also made things difficult for itself because many famous players over 22 years old were not allowed to participate in the 33rd SEA Games. The U.22 Thailand team will be able to enter a healthy, fair, and useful playground for young players. At that time, the U.22 teams of other countries, including U.22 Vietnam, will have to fight with the strength of their young players.
Bui Vi Hao (right) - one of the pillars of U.22 Vietnam at SEA Games 33
Indonesia hired a famous Dutch coach to lead the national team with the ultimate goal of winning a ticket to the World Cup, but it would be wrong to say that they gave up on the SEA Games. The U.22 Indonesia team is still being carefully taken care of, but the goal is nothing more than a high achievement at the SEA Games. The President of the Indonesian Football Federation is also very ambitious, so of course the U.22 Vietnam team must also face a formidable opponent, the U.22 Indonesia team.
Countries that have the potential and desire to reach the highest goals in the continental arena with the World Cup qualifiers or the Asian Cup finals, will also consider the SEA Games as a driving force to discover new factors, prepare for a new development cycle, new successes. Why can't Vietnamese football both nurture the big dream for a big team and cherish the aspiration to win the SEA Games gold medal?
STAFF SELECTION: NOT SIMPLE
To serve the goals of Vietnamese football, in the coming time, the Vietnamese national team and the U.22 team will gather together. This means that the coaching staff will also have some sharing. Coach Kim is given priority for the national team to prepare for the Asian Cup qualifiers, with the first match against Laos. But in his strategic plan, Coach Kim Sang-sik still attaches great importance to turning the U.22 Vietnam team into an elite team.
Of course, he also has to carefully calculate the personnel of the two teams. Questions related to where Vi Hao, Van Khang, Trung Kien, Quoc Viet, Dinh Bac, Thai Son will practice and which team they will be in will also be a problem. In the past, most of these players have been tested in the environment of the Vietnamese team and the training and testing with their seniors at the AFF Cup has helped them make significant progress. So in the near future, if they continue to be in the senior team, what will the composition of U.22 Vietnam be like, and what effective solutions will Mr. Kim have to be able to combine the squad and find a suitable framework for the goal of winning the SEA Games gold medal at the end of the year.
The scarcity of talent in the U.22 age group at the present time is also a big headache for the coaching staff. After the success of SEA Games 30, SEA Games 31 with the groups born in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001... then the failure at SEA Games 32 with the groups born in 2002, 2003, 2004 has sounded an alarm bell for the talent source of Vietnamese football. Obviously, compared to the previous generation of Hoang Duc, Tien Linh, Nham Manh Dung, Tuan Tai, Thai Son, Dinh Bac, Vi Hao, Van Khang have not been stable.
There are many difficulties awaiting the U.22 Vietnam coaching staff, but "fire tests gold, hardship tests strength", "pressure creates diamonds"... Hopefully in the near future, when both the Vietnam national team and U.22 Vietnam begin their first training sessions, coach Kim Sang-sik and his colleagues will find suitable solutions.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bai-toan-kho-cua-hlv-kim-sang-sik-va-u22-viet-nam-185250220220701585.htm
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