After helping Vietnam win the 2024 AFF Cup, coach Kim Sang-sik returned to Korea for a vacation. Recently, coach Kim Sang-sik revealed his ambition for the Vietnam national team when interviewed by JoongAng Ilbo.
Coach Kim Sang-sik confided that after the AFF Cup 2024, he and his students will aim for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers and the 2025 SEA Games. The Korean coach also hopes to help the Vietnamese national team participate in the World Cup: "I will do everything I can to help Vietnamese football achieve its long-term goal of reaching the World Cup finals."
Coach Kim also recounted what he said to the Vietnamese national team players after being appointed. "Right after being appointed to lead the Vietnamese football team, I gathered the players and declared: "I will bet my whole life on this role. You guys should also give it your all." I still clearly remember the eyes of the players at that time, both eager and tense."
Coach Kim Sang-sik wants to help the Vietnamese team go further after winning the AFF Cup 2024
Coach Kim describes himself in three words: tiger, changeable and confident. He shares his coaching and management methods: “ I am usually very approachable and friendly, but when necessary, I want to show strictness and focus like a tiger hunting its prey.”
Coach Kim Sang-sik emphasized : "Current satisfaction will lead to regression, so we must constantly change and always be confident no matter what the result is." This is the message he wants to convey to Vietnamese players who have not yet shown their full potential.
In the future, Coach Kim revealed his intention to use naturalized players to enhance the strength of the Vietnam national team. The Korean coach commented: “The use of naturalized players has become an important trend in Southeast Asia. The Indonesian national team has many players of mixed Dutch descent, while the Philippines and Singapore actively recruit players with dual nationality. ” However, he noted the use of more naturalized players in the Vietnam national team: “ We will consider carefully to strengthen the squad.”
Coach Kim Sang-sik shared his “big brother” coaching philosophy, which is to be close to the players. He explained: “I like to use this term, especially with Vietnamese players. I try to be close and talk openly with them.” Coach Kim Sang-sik said: “We eat together, drink tea, sometimes share snacks like fried chicken and talk sincerely. Vietnamese and Korean cultures are quite similar, so I express my feelings like an older brother and the players are very sincere with me.”
Coach Kim Sang-sik's player management method has been effective.
Coach Kim revealed about criticizing players in the Vietnam National Team: “ When I need to criticize someone, I avoid doing it in front of a crowd but call each person individually to remind them. This is a valuable experience from Coach Park Hang Seo.”
Regarding the celebration dance after Vietnam won the AFF Cup 2024, coach Kim Sang-sik said: “ I was surprised to see that the players knew a lot about me when they first met. They even knew that I had danced to celebrate when leading Jeonbuk Hyundai to the championship in 2021 as well as that I had fiercely tackled Zidane at the 2006 World Cup.”
“The Vietnamese players said: ‘If you win the AFF Cup, please dance for us’. So I agreed right away. We went through hardships that seemed like hell before winning the championship, maybe that’s why my celebration dance became so passionate,” coach Kim Sang-sik recalled.
“ I still feel like I just woke up from a beautiful dream,” coach Kim Sang-sik shared emotionally after the journey to conquer the AFF Cup 2024.
Coach Kim Sang-sik admitted that he received many congratulatory gifts after winning the AFF Cup 2024. Coach Kim also said that he is very popular in Vietnam. “ I heard that they gave me a golf course membership card. Every time I take a taxi in Vietnam, the driver usually doesn't want to take my money, leading to interesting debates,” Coach Kim Sang-sik shared.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-toi-dat-cuoc-ca-cuoc-doi-vao-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-ar920117.html
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