The winding road of Mr. Kim Sang-sik

Coach Kim Sang-sik has a great hand with Vietnamese football, having won the 2024 AFF Cup and the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship. However, his upcoming mission is full of challenges as he and his students compete in three arenas including the 33rd SEA Games, the AFC U.23 Championship and the second leg of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Coach Kim Sang-sik and the BIG PRESSURE FROM THE PAST

Coach Park Hang-seo, Kim Sang-sik's compatriot, won two gold medals at the 30th and 31st SEA Games, became the runner-up at the 2018 U.23 Asian Championship and reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup. These are also the three important fronts that Coach Kim Sang-sik must face.

SEA Games 33 in December 2025, host Thailand is very determined to capture all 4 football gold medals, focusing on the men's football gold medal because the Thais have been empty-handed for 3 consecutive SEA Games. Recently, after winning a ticket to the AFC U.23 Championship, coach Thawatchai affirmed that his team (actually U.22) is gradually improving and will reach its peak performance in time for the SEA Games at home.

The Vietnamese team (left) will play Malaysia again in March 2026 in the journey to hunt for tickets to the 2027 Asian Cup finals.

PHOTO: NGOC LINH

Despite being eliminated in the group stage of the U.23 Asia Championship, U.23 Indonesia is still the defending SEA Games champion. There are nearly 3 months left until SEA Games 33, enough time for billionaire Erick Thohir (President of the Indonesian Football Federation) to invest and upgrade the team. In addition to key players such as goalkeeper Muhammad Ardiansyah and striker Jens Craven, U.23 Indonesia can add a few other quality names such as central defender Justin Hubner, midfielder Ivar Jenner, and Marselino Ferdinan to strengthen their squad.

Obviously, Thailand and Indonesia are still really tough challenges for U.23 Vietnam on the way to conquering the goal of SEA Games 33. Mr. Kim Sang-sik will certainly not "freeze" the current force, but must reinforce it with new elements when V-League returns.

At the AFC U23 Championship in Saudi Arabia in January 2026, Vietnam U23 will face a huge challenge at the continental level. We were runners-up in 2018 and have reached the quarter-finals of this tournament many times, putting pressure on the current generation of players and coach Kim Sang-sik. Perhaps we need to wait for the draw results on October 2 to accurately assess our chances in this tournament.

NEED BREAKTHROUGH

The national team's bid for the 2027 Asian Cup finals is facing a huge challenge because Vietnam lost to Malaysia too heavily in the first leg, making the opportunity very slim. In 2019, the Vietnamese team under the leadership of coach Park Hang-seo impressively advanced to the quarterfinals. Compared to Mr. Park's time, the personnel in Mr. Kim Sang-sik's hands are not uniform, not to mention the current strong fluctuations in Southeast Asian football. The issue of naturalization is not new, but the way it is done in many countries is very pragmatic. They massively localize foreign factors, causing regional football to break the development structure according to common rules. The identity of each country's football is now a transformation and acculturation on the level of deep integration that Malaysia and Indonesia are taking full advantage of, not simply supplementing each position.

In the upcoming Asian Cup qualifiers, the two matches against Nepal (October 9 at Go Dau Stadium and October 14 at Thong Nhat Stadium, due to political turmoil in Nepal), and the away match in Laos (November 18) are also good conditions for the Vietnamese team to improve themselves, before returning to Viet Tri to welcome the Malaysian team in the second leg (March 31, 2026). In a match where we play to reposition ourselves, winning or losing has its own value. Coach Kim Sang-sik himself also needs to renew himself in applying appropriate tactics for his players in the coming time. Having fought in many tournaments, perhaps Mr. Kim's tactics and strategies have been thoroughly studied by opponents and there is no longer an element of surprise. Therefore, to achieve the expected results, the Vietnamese team or the U.23 Vietnam team needs to have a breakthrough, and of course, that breakthrough is expected by the audience to be effective.

In late 2025 and early 2026, Mr. Kim will enter a difficult period with Vietnamese football. Although it is difficult, if the plans are well prepared, the results will come.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doan-duong-khuc-khuyu-cua-ong-kim-sang-sik-1852509132145071.htm