Mr. Kim is still waiting for Cong Phuong?

Cong Phuong cannot reunite with Van Lam in the Vietnam national team

Dang Van Lam is the only player currently playing in the first division who has been called up by coach Kim Sang-sik to the Vietnam national team to prepare for two friendly matches with opponents India (October 9) and Lebanon (October 15), while new player from Binh Phuoc Club, Cong Phuong, is absent.

In addition, people saw the absence of striker Dinh Thanh Binh who was called to the training camp and played in the previous training camp. Does coach Kim Sang-sik have any priority for the Vietnamese-American goalkeeper?

In fact, the answer probably lies in form and physical condition. Playing in the first division, but Dang Van Lam is a name that has proven his ability in many big and small tournaments such as AFF Cup 2018, Asian Cup 2019, World Cup 2022 qualifiers...

Recently, Lam "Tay" competed in the LPBank friendly tournament in Ho Chi Minh City with the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Club, joined the Vietnam national team and played in a friendly match with the Russian team at My Dinh Stadium.

List of Vietnam team members at FIFA Days October 2024

With his ability and professionalism that almost doesn't need to be proven, it is reasonable that Dang Van Lam was summoned by Mr. Kim Sang-sik, as he is still the top competitor with Nguyen Filip for the main goalkeeper role in the Vietnam national team.

Similar to Van Lam, striker Dinh Thanh Binh was also called by Mr. Kim at FIFA Days in September, playing in both matches against Russia and Thailand.

However, the striker born in 1998 unfortunately suffered an ankle ligament injury in the match against Thailand, preventing him from playing in the recent friendly matches of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Team. Until now, he has been practicing separately.

According to Thanh Nien Newspaper, Coach Kim Sang-sik knows well about his student's health condition. It is known that the coach born in 1976 has proactively contacted, discussed, asked about and encouraged the striker from the LPBank HAGL training center.

Coach Kim Sang-sik is still waiting to see Cong Phuong play.

But Cong Phuong's case is completely different. The last time "Duc's darling" played for the Vietnamese team was more than a year ago, exactly on September 11, 2023.

Although he scored against Palestine after being substituted, Cong Phuong was not included in coach Philippe Troussier's plans until he left, and later when coach Kim Sang-sik took over the Vietnamese team.

Even more noteworthy, Cong Phuong barely played in the 2 years he played for Yokohama FC, with only 3 matches in the Emperor's Cup with a total of 85 minutes of play.

Football expert Doan Minh Xuong commented: "Coach Kim Sang-sik's call-up of Dang Van Lam is reasonable because he knows the goalkeeper's ability, professionalism and progress.

Cong Phuong is actively training in Binh Phuoc

Remember that Van Lam still regularly plays in the training sessions of the Vietnam national team. In fact, he still plays an important role in the Vietnam national team. Dinh Thanh Binh is an unfortunate case as he has not recovered from his injury.

On the contrary, Cong Phuong is still a zero in this dynasty, because Mr. Kim Sang-sik has never seen him play football. This striker has just returned to Vietnam after 2 years of almost not playing for Yokohama FC.

Cong Phuong is a former player but coach Kim Sang-sik has almost no data about him. Mr. Kim once affirmed that he only called players to ensure their performance, so he could not take risks, because it meant taking away the opportunity of others.

But Cong Phuong doesn't have to be impatient because the national first division will start next October, enough for him to impress coach Kim Sang-sik if he shows good form. I believe that Mr. Kim will really want Cong Phuong to return to his best version."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-ong-kim-van-cho-cong-phuong-185241002130618639.htm