Mr. Kim Sang Sik reveals how to select personnel for the Vietnam U23 team

On August 26, Coach Kim Sang Sik explained his and the coaching staff's choices for the recently announced list of players called up to the Vietnam U23 team.

Accordingly, on August 30, the U23 Vietnam team will gather and practice in Viet Tri ( Phu Tho ). In this training session, U23 Vietnam will embark on the second important task in 2025, the 2026 U23 Asian Qualifiers, after successfully defending the U23 Southeast Asian Championship. This is also an important preparation step towards the 33rd SEA Games.

Coach Kim Sang Sik answered an interview on the afternoon of August 26.

In the list of 24 players called up, in addition to the appearance of Tran Thanh Trung - the player who just entered the top 3 Best Young Player of Bulgaria in the 2024/25 season, Coach Kim Sang Sik still retains the squad that has "fought" with him in many recent tournaments. Familiar faces such as Van Khang, Dinh Bac, Van Truong or Trung Kien... are all present.

In addition, we must also mention the names that the Korean coach tested at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship last July such as Nhat Minh, Hieu Minh, Xuan Bac, Viktor Le, Cong Phuong, Anh Quan...

These are all players who have won the trust of coach Kim Sang Sik. The Korean strategist himself once affirmed that the U23 Vietnam squad that "reached the top" of Southeast Asia last July were mostly players with "very good ability and long-term development potential".

After the success at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, the Korean coach has the basis to continue to put his trust in familiar faces in addition to finding a few new factors. Photo: VFF.

In a press interview on the afternoon of August 26, Coach Kim Sang Sik confirmed that all the players on the list have been monitored by himself and the coaching staff for many months. The above players were selected based on their current form and fitness.

“I and the coaching staff checked the health of the players before making the list of players to be called up, which was announced yesterday. At the recent 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, despite many difficulties, we (Vietnam U23 Team) overcame them together to achieve success. I believe that success will give the players more confidence to pass the 2026 Asian U23 Qualifiers,” said the Korean coach.

Obviously, coach Kim Sang Sik has reason to believe in the names that have succeeded with him before. It is also necessary to add that the U23 Vietnam team's framework can be fixed, but each position can be replaced when the Korean coach currently has no shortage of reserve options. This helps create a certain competition among the players called up as well as create hope for the young factors that have not been selected this time.

Another point to note is that the U23 level is always a reserve force for the national team. A generation of young U23 players with great potential will bring hope for the national team's success in the long term. This has been proven under the compatriot of Mr. Kim Sang Sik - Coach Park Hang Seo, the most successful foreign strategist of Vietnamese football. The generation of Cong Phuong, Quang Hai, Van Thanh, Van Hau after the miracle in Thuong Chau that year are still important players in the national team as well as at the club level.

Whether the generation of Dinh Bac, Van Khang... can recreate or even surpass the feats of their seniors, time will tell. However, what they have shown, especially during their time under coach Kim Sang Sik, has also created certain hopes for Vietnamese football fans.

Rookie Tran Thanh Trung (left) in Ninh Binh Club's jersey playing at LPBank V.League 1- 2025/26.

The 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers will feature 44 teams, divided into 11 groups. The teams in each group will compete in a round robin to select the group winner and the four best runners-up to advance to the 2026 AFC U23 Championship Finals. In the qualifiers, Vietnam U23 will be in Group C with Yemen U23, Singapore U23, and Bangladesh U23. Except for Bangladesh, Yemen and Singapore were in the same group as Vietnam U23 in the 2024 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers. That year, the “Golden Star Warriors” won the group with 7 points to advance to the finals.

As part of the preparation plan for the important goals of the Vietnam U23 team in 2025, in addition to the effort to win the right to host the group of the Vietnam U23 team in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and Coach Kim Sang Sik have proactively built a long-term plan for the team's force. Accordingly, from the second half of 2024 to present, many players of the U22 age group have been called up to the national team in FIFA Days to accumulate experience, improve tactical thinking and get used to the intensity of international competition.

In addition, the team will also be given the opportunity to participate in quality tournaments such as the international U22 tournament in China in March 2025 with the participation of Uzbekistan, South Korea and host China.

*As for Tran Thanh Chung (Chung Nguyen Do, currently holding dual Vietnamese and Bulgarian citizenship), who was called up to the U23 team for the first time, Mr. Kim Sang Sik said he will continue to monitor the performance of the player born in 2005 during this training session. Coach Kim Sang Sik unexpectedly sent his thanks to the leaders of LP Bank for supporting the overseas Vietnamese player's return to the country. Mr. Kim Sang Sik affirmed that he will continue to work with his colleagues to search for talented overseas Vietnamese players for Vietnamese football.

*The matches in Group C - 2026 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers will take place at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho) from September 3 to September 9, 2025. To prepare for this tournament, on August 26, VFF and Loc Phat Bank (LPBank) officially signed and announced LPBank as the main companion of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers - Group C. The 2026 AFC U23 Championship Finals are scheduled to take place in January 2026 in Saudi Arabia.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/ong-kim-sang-sik-bat-mi-ve-cach-lua-chon-nhan-su-cho-dt-u23-viet-nam-i779405/