The horizon is wide open!

The glory and ups and downs of player Kim with the Korean team

Kim Sang-sik was born on December 17, 1976, in Jeonnam (South Korea). When he was young, he played for Daegu University in Korea from 1995 to 1998. After that, Kim started his professional football career in 1999, at the age of 23, for Seongnam FC (formerly known as Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma). Only about 1 year after joining the professional team, center back Kim Sang-sik was called up to the Korean national team. He made his debut for the Korean team on May 29, 2000, when Korea played a friendly match against Yugoslavia.

However, center back Kim Sang-sik missed the historic 2002 World Cup held at home. When mentioning the Korean team in those years, people immediately think of legendary center back Hong Myung-bo. Hong Myung-bo's influence on the national team was so great that it was difficult for other center backs to step out of his shadow.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with a hug for coach Kim Sang-sik

Mr. "Sau Sang" with the AFF Cup trophy and language assistant

The first World Cup that Mr. Kim Sang-sik attended was the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He played twice, but that was a tournament in which Korea did not play very successfully, they were eliminated after the group stage, when they were in the same group with teams such as France, Switzerland, and Togo.

Kim Sang-sik's most successful international tournament as a player was the 2007 Asian Cup, held in four Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. That year, center back Kim Sang-sik was promoted to play as a central midfielder, replacing another very famous face of Korean football, midfielder Kim Nam-il, who was injured.

Kim Sang-sik helped South Korea reach the semi-finals. They lost to Iraq (the eventual champions) in the semi-finals, but beat arch-rivals Japan in the third-place match.

Goalkeeping coach Lee Won-jea (right) was a teammate of Mr. Kim when they were both players.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

However, that was also the tournament where Mr. Kim Sang-sik and the captain goalkeeper Lee Won-jae (who is currently an assistant to coach Kim Sang-sik in the Vietnam national team) had an incident. They were given a temporary disciplinary sentence by the Korea Football Association (KFA). In May 2012, the 36-year-old central defender Kim Sang-sik returned to play for the Korean national team in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. He contributed to helping the Korean team win a ticket to the World Cup finals in Brazil, but decided to leave the team right before the 2014 World Cup.

Coaching career with famous club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Then, just one year after leaving the national team, Mr. Kim Sang-sik "hung up his boots" at the age of 37, to move into coaching. At the time of hanging up his boots, central defender Kim Sang-sik played for the famous top football club in Korea, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Immediately after retiring as a player, Mr. Kim Sang-sik was retained as an assistant coach for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors from 2013 to 2020.

Success with the Vietnamese team is an affirmation of coach Kim Sang-sik's ability.

In 2020, at the age of 44, Coach Kim Sang-sik officially took charge of a professional football team. It was not easy for a coach with no achievements to be selected to coach Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. This is a team that has won the K-League 1 championship in Korea 9 times, the Korean Cup 5 times, and the AFC Champions League 2 times (2006, 2016). Leading this team are often famous, experienced coaches.

Great success in Vietnam

Photo: Nhat Bac

The selection of coach Kim Sang-sik at that time was very surprising, and there was a time when people doubted his ability to lead the team and his ability to succeed at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

This suspicion only ended when coach Kim Sang-sik helped Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors climb to the top of the K-League 1 table and win the tournament in 2021. Thereby, Mr. Kim Sang-sik became the person who won the K-League 1 with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors both as a player (2009, 2011) and as a coach (2021). A year later, Mr. Kim Sang-sik helped Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors win the Korean FA Cup.

But just like his time as a player, Mr. Kim also experienced ups and downs in his hometown as a coach. In 2023, when Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' performance was not as expected, the fans of this Korean team blurted out to coach Kim Sang-sik: "Leave". And, coach Kim Sang-sik really left, he stopped being the coach of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors from 2023.

Bringing hip hop from Korean football fields to Rajamangala Stadium

In May 2024, Coach Kim Sang-sik signed a contract to become the head coach of the Vietnam national team, in the context of domestic football going through days of disappointment, after a period of consecutive failures under Coach Philippe Troussier (French). In that not very optimistic atmosphere, not many people were excited about the appearance of Coach Kim Sang-sik.

Many Vietnamese players reach new levels under the training of coach Kim Sang-sik

The warm-up phase for the AFF Cup 2024 with not very successful matches during the FIFA Days in September and October has made doubts about coach Kim Sang-sik begin to appear. This is exactly like what happened to the Korean coach in his early days leading Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Club in his home country.

Mr. Kim had a wonderful memory in his career.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

However, coach Kim Sang-sik remained steadfast and determined, promising to dance hip hop when the Vietnamese team won the AFF Cup. This is the dance he performed when he helped Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors win the K-League in 2021. This hip hop dance has become so popular that it has spread very quickly on social media, to the point that coach Kim Sang-sik half-jokingly said: "I think I am the best dancing football coach in the world."

The most important thing for Vietnamese football fans is that the above hip hop dance spread to the giant Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok (Thailand) on the night of January 5, 2024. That means when the dance was recreated, Coach Kim Sang-sik successfully achieved the goal of winning the AFF Cup 2024. It was even sweeter for Vietnamese football fans because we won that championship right on Thai soil.

Mr. Kim is trusted and respected by his students.

Responding to the Korean media after winning the Southeast Asian championship, coach Kim Sang-sik said: "Vietnamese people call me Anh Sau Sang, a mispronunciation of the word Sang-sik in my name, which here sounds like the number 6 in English. From the elderly to the children of Vietnam, everyone congratulated me. This is something I have only seen on TV, when my compatriot coach Park Hang-seo was successful with football here. I was really touched by that.

Vietnamese and Korean people are both influenced by Confucian culture, so Vietnamese players listen to me very well. On the contrary, the cultural similarities help me not take much time to adapt to the new environment in Vietnam. I am also happy that the victory with the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup also helps some Korean football fans see that I am still alive. For Southeast Asian people, the AFF Cup is like a World Cup for this region."

Just turned 49, an age that can be considered young in the ranks of professional coaches, but coach Kim Sang-sik has achieved enough glory from the club level to the national team. The upcoming goal of this Korean coach is to win the 2025 SEA Games with the Vietnam U.23 team, as well as bring the Vietnam national team to the 2027 Asian Cup finals. In Korea, Mr. Kim Sang-sik is nicknamed "poisonous snake" (toksa). This "snake" has just made the Southeast Asian football community terrified. Now, it may be time for poisonous snake Kim Sang-sik to conquer new heights with the Vietnam team!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doc-xa-kim-sang-sik-giup-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-hai-qua-ngot-chan-troi-con-rong-mo-185250108190317394.htm