U23 Vietnam: Coach Kim Sang Sik's dream

U23 Vietnam can solve the problem of creativity in the midfield in the upcoming U23 Asia qualifiers, if coach Kim Sang Sik's "dream" comes true.

Big problem of U23 Vietnam

In the recent U23 Southeast Asian tournament, despite winning all the matches, U23 Vietnam still had a big problem with the efficiency of the attack. Many people think that it is because the strikers are not lucky. If analyzed carefully, the deeper problem comes from the midfield area.

Coach Kim Sang Sik's strikers are often "starved for the ball" or only receive passes in difficult positions. U23 Vietnam lacks a midfielder capable of controlling the game, controlling the tempo and making "killer" passes to break down the opponent's defense.

Despite being the absolute champion in the U23 Southeast Asian tournament, U23 Vietnam still lacks a leader in midfield.

Expected names like Viktor Le, Thai Son, and even the new discovery Xuan Bac are very hard-working and combative, but they do not seem capable enough to play the role of a real "boss", a creative brain in the central area.

And when lacking a leader in the midfield, U23 Vietnam can easily fall into a deadlock, especially against opponents with good defensive organization. So one of the problems for coach Kim Sang Sik in the next training session will be to untie this knot, if he wants to be more perfect.

Mr. Kim Sang Sik's Dream

While the creative problem is still unfinished, the return to Vietnam of Tran Thanh Trung (Chung Nguyen Do) has lit up a great hope for coach Kim Sang Sik and fans.

This overseas Vietnamese midfielder is the perfect piece that U23 Vietnam is longing for, possessing a modern football mindset and good tactical vision... this has been proven while in Bulgaria, as well as in the first few minutes on the field in V-League 2025/26.

So the return of Tran Thanh Trung is a hope for coach Kim Sang Sik.

More importantly, Thanh Trung has Vietnamese nationality, which means the midfielder is fully eligible to wear the U23 Vietnam shirt in the upcoming U23 Asia qualifiers at Phu Tho Stadium.

The presence of the midfielder from Ninh Binh Club is expected to immediately solve the bottleneck in the midfield, bringing creativity and innovation that the team is lacking.

This is Mr. Kim's biggest "dream" for U23 Vietnam at the moment. However, it must be called a dream because there are still obstacles such as the fact that in the past, Thanh Trung once affirmed that he only wanted to wear the Bulgarian national team jersey, where he grew up, instead of Vietnam.

Of course, the possibility that this midfielder will still qualify for the U23 Asian Qualifiers with U23 Vietnam is entirely possible and will be a huge boost.

But is it a long-term commitment or just a temporary combination? Turning the "dream" named Tran Thanh Trung into a sustainable reality, convincing this player to wholeheartedly devote himself to the national team, is probably the biggest challenge for coach Kim Sang Sik and VFF.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/u23-viet-nam-giac-mo-lon-nhat-cua-hlv-kim-sang-sik-2435097.html