Vietnam national team's match schedule

A RIGHT OPPONENT

The Vietnamese national team will play three friendly matches during their training camp in South Korea, against Ulsan Citizen (8:30 AM on November 27), Daegu (12:00 PM on November 29), and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (12:00 PM on December 1). This is a favorable schedule, as coach Kim Sang-sik's team will face opponents of increasing difficulty. The first test will be the easiest, as Quang Hai and his teammates will face Ulsan Citizen, currently playing in K-League 3, the third division of South Korea.

Compared to Daegu or Jeonbuk (Kim Sang-sik's former team, both as a player and head coach), Ulsan Citizen is inferior in terms of quality. The team finished 12th out of 16 teams in K-League 3 last season, with only 34 points after 30 rounds. Ulsan Citizen was only founded in 2018 and has been active for six years, playing in K-League 3 or K-League 4, meaning it's close to being a semi-professional team.

The Vietnamese team has an opportunity to hone their playing style against third-tier opponent South Korea.

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

Overall, this is a suitable opponent for the Vietnamese team to experiment with their lineup while still securing a victory.

OPPORTUNITY FOR "GROUP 2"

The match against Ulsan Citizen is an opportunity for coach Kim Sang-sik to give playing time to players who are striving to earn a starting spot. These include 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, and forwards Dinh Thanh Binh, Bui Vi Hao…

To compete in the 2024 AFF Cup, the Vietnamese national team not only needs a solid core squad but also relies on a "second line" of quality reserve players to rotate the lineup or bring them onto the field to change the course of the match.

In the six friendly matches played so far, coach Kim Sang-sik has mixed in key players from previous eras under coaches like Park Hang-seo and Philippe Troussier, along with young players or newcomers selected by him and his coaching staff from the V-League. Coach Kim has been shuffling the team to find the most suitable lineup. However, with the 2024 AFF Cup approaching, the South Korean coach needs to finalize the starting lineup and reserve players to develop the playing style and tactics for each match.

In recent days, coach Kim Sang-sik has been killing two birds with one stone. He's been working on his players' physical fitness with a combination of endurance and strength exercises, monitored using a GPS system to help the coaching staff keep track of the players' condition. The Vietnamese team is running at full speed to overcome 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 training, with at least 90 to 120 minutes of split-squad practice each day to hone their game plan. The Vietnamese team's playing style is beginning to take shape, with basic elements such as controlling the game, building play from the defense, focusing on short passes to penetrate the midfield, combined with quick, lightning-fast attacks with minimal touches thanks to well-coordinated passing combinations.

Coach Kim wants to create diversity and unpredictability in the playing style, with abundant tactics to deal with different types of opponents and different game situations. However, overall, 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 the opportunity to play offensively and practice their attacking strategies. With only 3 goals in their last 4 matches (maximum of 1 goal per game), coach Kim Sang-sik needs to improve his players' attacking prowess.

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