Coach Kim Sang-sik temporarily leaves Vietnam team: Focusing on big goals

The Vietnamese team will likely not have the services of coach Kim Sang-sik in the September training session, as Mr. Kim focuses on the U.23 Vietnam team in the Asian qualifiers.

Vietnam team temporarily leaves coach Kim Sang-sik

The Vietnam national team and Vietnam U.23 will gather in parallel in September to serve two separate tasks. While Vietnam U.23 competes in the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship qualifiers (from September 3 to September 9), the national team will play friendly matches to train their troops, in order to continue building their strength for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Due to the different nature of the two teams, coach Kim Sang-sik and his best assistants will be assigned to coach U.23 Vietnam, because the young players will play in the official tournament. Winning a ticket to the final round of the U.23 Asian tournament is also a mandatory goal for coach Kim, because U.23 Vietnam has passed the qualifying round continuously since 2016 until now.

As for the Vietnam team, because they are only playing friendly matches, the coaching team will not be as optimal as the U.23 Vietnam team. It is possible that coach Kim Sang-sik will hand over the national team to an assistant to lead.

Coach Kim Sang-sik focuses on U.23 Vietnam in September

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has yet to announce the identity of the person who will replace Mr. Kim as the temporary leader of the Vietnam national team. However, regardless of who leads the team, the team's training schedule, and competition intensity may not be as good as in previous periods when Mr. Kim temporarily left the "captain's seat".

Prioritizing the best coaching team for the official tournament team is an understandable choice of VFF. U.23 Vietnam is also considered as the "B team" of the Vietnam national team, when the U.23 factors all have the potential and opportunity to inherit their seniors. Focusing on U.23 Vietnam is also creating a future for the national team.

The Vietnamese team only has 5 training sessions per year according to the FIFA Days schedule, including March, June, September, October and November (not counting official tournaments). Due to no longer maintaining the long-term habit of the past, each current training session of the team (lasting about 2 weeks) plays a very important role in shaping the path and building the force.

Vietnam team only plays 2 friendly matches with 2 V-League teams in September

PHOTO: NGOC LINH

Difficult to replace Mr. Kim

An expert who used to work in Vietnam said: "We often talk about player training, but coach training is also very important. The national team is often coached by foreign coaches, and when they and their assistants leave, we have to start over. There is no domestic coach who plays an important role in the national team to learn, adapt and prepare."

Finding a replacement for Mr. Kim is difficult because there is no domestic coach of high caliber currently working for the national team.

The person who replaced coach Kim Sang-sik in charge of U.23 Vietnam recently was Mr. Dinh Hong Vinh, who was only average. The youth teams were previously assigned to coaches such as Dinh The Nam, Tran Minh Chien, Hua Hien Vinh... who were also not considered "big names". The rare good domestic coach who had coached the national team at all levels, Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan, has left his position.

That raises the question: when Mr. Kim has to... single-handedly carry two teams, who is qualified enough to replace him, to ensure the quality of coaching and philosophy are maintained?

Who is capable of taking over, when no talented domestic coach is "interested" in the national team position, even if it is only temporary?

Which assistant did coach Kim Sang-sik send to take charge of the national team?

PHOTO: MINH TU

In countries like Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia, the coaching positions of the national team and the U.23 team are assigned to two different coaches. There is no (or very little) overlap in the coaching staff between the national team and the U.23 team in these football backgrounds.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-tam-chia-tay-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-don-suc-cho-muc-tieu-lon-185250821190630677.htm