Vietnam national team match schedule

MEDIUM OPPONENT

The Vietnamese team will have three friendly matches during their training trip in Korea, respectively against Ulsan Citizen (8:30 a.m. on November 27), Daegu (12:00 p.m. on November 29) and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (12:00 p.m. on December 1). This is a favorable match schedule, as coach Kim Sang-sik and his team face teams of increasing difficulty. The first test will be the easiest, as Quang Hai and his teammates' opponent is Ulsan Citizen, currently playing in the K-League 3, which is the third division of Korea.

Compared to Daegu or Jeonbuk (Kim Sang-sik's former team as both player and head coach), Ulsan Citizen is inferior in terms of class. This team ranked 12th out of 16 teams in K-League 3 last season, with only 34 points after 30 rounds. Ulsan Citizen was only established in 2018 and has been operating for 6 years, competing in K-League 3 or K-League 4, which is close to semi-professional.

Vietnam team has a chance to practice playing style against third-class opponent Korea

Because they play in K-League 3, information about Ulsan Citizen such as professional quality and squad value is relatively limited. In the last 9 matches, Ulsan Citizen only won 1, but suffered 6 defeats. This team is coached by Mr. Yoon Kyun-sang. The number 1 star is Koo Jong-uk with 10 goals and 3 assists last season.

Overall, this is an opponent of equal strength for the Vietnamese team to test their lineup and still win.

OPPORTUNITY FOR "GROUP 2"

The match against Ulsan Citizen is an opportunity for coach Kim Sang-sik to trust the faces who are trying to find a starting position. They are goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, defenders Do Duy Manh, Nguyen Thanh Chung, Truong Tien Anh, Bui Tien Dung, midfielders Doan Ngoc Tan, Chau Ngoc Quang, Le Pham Thanh Long, Tran Bao Toan, or strikers Dinh Thanh Binh, Bui Vi Hao...

To compete in the AFF Cup 2024, the Vietnamese team not only needs a solid framework, but also has to rely on a "second team" with quality reserve players to rotate the squad, or put on the field to change the game.

In the past 6 friendly matches of the Vietnamese team, coach Kim Sang-sik has used a mix of former pillars under his predecessors such as Park Hang-seo and Philippe Troussier, as well as young players or rookies selected by him and the coaching staff from the V-League. Mr. Kim has "shuffled" the Vietnamese team to find the most suitable pieces. However, as the 2024 AFF Cup approaches, the Korean coach needs to decide which is the official squad and which is the reserve force to build the playing style and tactics for each match.

In recent days, Coach Kim Sang-sik has been killing two birds with one stone. He has been training his players' physical strength with a combination of endurance and strength exercises, monitored by a GPS system to help the coaching staff understand the players' physical condition. The Vietnamese team is running at full speed to release inertia, thus keeping up with the proactive and energetic playing style that Coach Kim Sang-sik has built.

In addition, Mr. Kim also focuses on tactical exercises, with at least 90 to 120 minutes of team formation to practice tactics every day. The Vietnamese team's playing style is starting to take shape, with basic elements such as controlling the match, deploying the ball from the defense, focusing on short balls to penetrate the middle, combined with fast, lightning-fast and few-touch attacks thanks to the coordinated play of the teams.

Mr. Kim wants to create diversity and unpredictability in the playing style, with abundant tactics to deal with each type of opponent, in each different type of game. However, in general, the Vietnamese team still needs to run more, compete more persistently and strongly to compete with physically strong opponents like Indonesia and the Philippines in Group B of the AFF Cup 2024.

Against an opponent like Ulsan Citizen, the Vietnamese team will have a chance to play offensively and practice their moves to approach the goal. With only 3 goals in the last 4 matches (each match only scored a maximum of 1 goal), Coach Kim Sang-sik needs to improve his players' attacking power.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lich-thi-dau-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-ulsan-citizen-fc-hom-nay-cho-chien-thang-dau-tay-18524112620221455.htm