Indonesian newspaper points out abnormalities of Vietnam team

(Dan Tri) - Indonesian press said that it is unusual for the Vietnamese team not to play friendly matches with other teams in September.

As you know, the Vietnam national team will not play friendly matches with other teams in September during FIFA Days (national team gatherings according to FIFA schedule). Instead, the team will play friendly matches with two clubs Nam Dinh (September 4) and Hanoi Police (September 7).

Vietnam team will not play international friendly matches in September (Photo: Minh Quan).

Coach Kim Sang Sik will not even lead the Vietnamese team this time. He will hand over the authority to his assistant to focus on leading the U23 Vietnam team to participate in the qualifying round of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship in Phu Tho . In this tournament, U23 Vietnam will face Bangladesh (September 3), Singapore (September 6) and Yemen (September 9).

Commenting on this, Indonesian media said that this was an unusual move by the Vietnamese team. CNN Indonesia wrote: “The Vietnamese team has made an unusual decision to only play friendly matches with domestic clubs during the FIFA Days series in September.”

The Indonesian newspaper emphasized: “The move of the Vietnamese team is very different from other teams in the Southeast Asian region. The Indonesian team will compete with two opponents, Kuwait and Lebanon, to prepare for the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. Thailand will host the King's Cup with Fiji, Iraq and Hong Kong (China). Malaysia will face Singapore and Palestine in friendly matches.

Coach Kim Sang Sik will lead the Vietnam U23 team to compete in the qualifying round of the U23 Asian Cup in September (Photo: VFF).

The Vietnamese team will miss the opportunity to accumulate points on the FIFA rankings when not playing international friendlies. The reason could be because the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and coach Kim Sang Sik want to focus on the Vietnam U23 team competing in the qualifying round of the U23 Asian Cup held at home in Viet Tri. They will be in the same group with Yemen, Singapore and Bangladesh.

Currently, the Vietnamese team is ranked 113th in the FIFA rankings. We are at risk of being surpassed by Indonesia. The team from the archipelago has risen to 118th in the world and is only 15 points behind the Vietnamese team.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-indonesia-chi-ra-dieu-bat-thuong-cua-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-20250822092352271.htm