The 2024 AFF Cup championship is just the beginning of coach Kim Sang-sik's journey with Vietnamese football. In 2025, the Korean coach faces more difficult challenges as both the national team and U23 Vietnam have important goals.
Attend Asian Cup to affirm position
The Vietnamese team participated in the last two Asian Cups. Maintaining a presence in the highest level of Asian football is also an affirmation of the rising position of Vietnamese football compared to the previous period. Fans will also find it difficult to accept if the Southeast Asian champion cannot participate in the continental arena.
In the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese team is in a fairly easy group. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will face Malaysia, Nepal and Laos. These are all teams that are far below the Vietnamese team in the FIFA rankings.
Coach Kim Sang-sik has two important tasks in 2025.
However, the year-long qualifying round also carries many risks as only the top team in the group will advance. Any mistake that loses points could put Mr. Kim Sang-sik and his students at a disadvantage. In addition, the Vietnamese team without Nguyen Xuan Son - who certainly will not recover in time to play the first two matches - cannot reassure fans even when facing teams in the region.
Vietnam's most formidable opponent, Malaysia, is also stronger than the version that was eliminated early in the 2024 AFF Cup. The team nicknamed "Malay Tiger" has just appointed a new coach and is about to naturalize a series of players of European origin. Combined with the return of top stars (absent from the 2024 AFF Cup due to their home clubs not allowing it), Malaysia's squad strength will increase significantly.
Great expectations at SEA Games 33
Coach Kim Sang-sik has not worked much with the U23 team in the first 8 months. He did not directly lead the team in the friendly tour and only 3 U23 players are in the squad for the 2024 AFF Cup. However, in 2025, the Korean coach will definitely have to focus more on the youth team to aim for the 33rd SEA Games.
Many players who participated in the U20 and U23 Asian tournaments in the past two years are still old enough to participate in the SEA Games.
Fans have reason to expect U22 Vietnam in the tournament taking place at the end of the year. There are many players of age to participate in the SEA Games who regularly play for their clubs, including prominent players such as Nguyen Thai Son, Khuat Van Khang, Bui Vi Hao, Nguyen Dinh Bac...
The generation of players born in 2003 and later in Vietnamese football also has many players with international competition experience in the past 2 years. Most of the squad participating in the U20, U23 Asian Cup and ASIAD 19 finals still meet the age requirement to compete at the 33rd SEA Games.
The experience gained from the above international tournaments, combined with the training in the V.League, has helped these players become more solid. Coach Kim Sang-sik has a good squad. The remaining problem is how to allocate time effectively to train and build the squad for the U22 team.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-doi-mat-thu-thach-2-trong-1-ar923079.html
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