The horizon is still wide open!

The glory and ups and downs of player Kim with the South Korean national team.

Kim Sang-sik was born on December 17, 1976, in Jeonnam, South Korea. As a young man, he played for Daegu University in South Korea from 1995 to 1998. He then began his professional football career in 1999, at the age of 23, for Seongnam FC (formerly Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma). Just about a year after turning professional, center-back Kim Sang-sik was called up to the South Korean national team. He made his debut for the South Korean team on May 29, 2000, in a friendly match against Yugoslavia.

However, center-back Kim Sang-sik missed the historic 2002 World Cup held on home soil. When mentioning the South Korean national team in those years, people immediately think of the legendary center-back Hong Myung-bo. Hong Myung-bo's influence on the national team was so great that it was very difficult for other center-backs to escape his shadow.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh embraces coach Kim Sang-sik.

"Six Sang" with the AFF Cup championship trophy and his language assistant.

Kim Sang-sik's first World Cup appearance was at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He played in two matches, but South Korea didn't have a very successful tournament, being eliminated after the group stage, in a group with France, Switzerland, and Togo.

Kim Sang-sik's most successful international tournament as a player was the 2007 Asian Cup, held in four Southeast Asian countries: Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. That year, center-back Kim Sang-sik was promoted to play as a central midfielder, replacing another very famous figure in Korean football, midfielder Kim Nam-il, who was injured.

Kim Sang-sik played a key role in leading South Korea to the semi-finals. They lost to Iraq (who later won the tournament) in the semi-finals, but defeated their arch-rivals Japan in the third-place match.

Goalkeeper coach Lee Won-jea (far right) was a teammate of Kim when they were both players.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

However, that was also the tournament where Kim Sang-sik and goalkeeper-captain Lee Won-jae (who is currently an assistant coach to Kim Sang-sik in the Vietnamese national team) had an incident. They received a temporary disciplinary penalty from the Korean Football Association (KFA). In May 2012, center-back Kim Sang-sik, then 36 years old, returned to play for the South Korean national team in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. He contributed to helping South Korea qualify for the World Cup finals in Brazil, but decided to retire from the national team just before the 2014 World Cup.

Coaching career with the renowned club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Just one year after leaving the national team, Kim Sang-sik retired at the age of 37 to pursue a coaching career. At the time of his retirement, the central defender played for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, a leading club in South Korean football. Immediately after leaving the team, Kim Sang-sik was retained as an assistant coach for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors from 2013 to 2020.

Success with the Vietnamese national team is a testament to the capabilities of coach Kim Sang-sik.

In 2020, at the age of 44, coach Kim Sang-sik officially took charge of a professional football team. Choosing a coach with no prior achievements to lead Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors was no easy feat. This team has won the K-League 1 nine times, the Korean Cup five times, and the AFC Champions League twice (2006, 2016). They are typically led by renowned and experienced coaches.

Great success in Vietnam

Photo: Nhat Bac

The selection of coach Kim Sang-sik at that time was quite unexpected, and there were times when people doubted his coaching abilities and his chances of success at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

This skepticism only ended when coach Kim Sang-sik led Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to the top of the K-League 1 table and won the championship in 2021. This made him the first person to have won the K-League 1 with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors both as a player (2009, 2011) and as a coach (2021). A year later, Kim Sang-sik helped Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors win the Korean FA Cup.

But just like during his playing days, Kim also experienced ups and downs in his homeland as a coach. In 2023, when Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' performance was unsatisfactory, the club's fans blurted out to coach Kim Sang-sik: "Leave." And indeed, coach Kim Sang-sik left, stepping down as head coach of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in 2023.

Bringing hip hop from the Korean football fields to the Rajamangala Stadium.

In May 2024, Coach Kim Sang-sik signed a contract to become the head coach of the Vietnamese national team, amidst a period of widespread disappointment in domestic football following a series of defeats under French coach Philippe Troussier. In this less-than-optimistic atmosphere, not many people were enthusiastic about the arrival of Coach Kim Sang-sik.

Many Vietnamese players have reached new levels under the coaching of Kim Sang-sik.

The lackluster start to the 2024 AFF Cup, marked by unsuccessful matches during the FIFA Days in September and October, has fueled growing doubts about coach Kim Sang-sik. This mirrors what happened to the South Korean coach in his early days managing Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in his home country.

Teacher Kim had a wonderful experience in his career.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

However, coach Kim Sang-sik remained steadfast and determined, promising to dance a hip hop dance when the Vietnamese national team wins the AFF Cup. This is the same dance he performed when he helped Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors win the K-League in 2021. This hip hop dance has become so popular that it has spread rapidly on social media, to the point where coach Kim Sang-sik jokingly said, "I think I'm the best dancing football coach in the world ."

Most importantly for Vietnamese football fans, the aforementioned hip-hop dance spread to the giant Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok (Thailand) on the night of January 5, 2024. This means that when the dance was recreated, Coach Kim Sang-sik successfully achieved his goal of winning the 2024 AFF Cup. Even sweeter for Vietnamese football fans is that the championship was won right on Thai soil.

Teacher Kim was trusted and respected by his students.

Speaking to the South Korean media after winning the Southeast Asian championship, coach Kim Sang-sik said: "The Vietnamese call me 'Brother Six Sang,' a mispronunciation of Sang-sik in my name, where 'Sik' is like the number 6 in English. From elderly people to children, everyone in Vietnam congratulated me. This is something I've only ever seen on TV, back when my compatriot coach Park Hang-seo was successful with football here. I'm truly moved by that."

Both Vietnamese and Koreans are influenced by Confucian culture, so the Vietnamese players listen to me very well. Conversely, the cultural similarities helped me adapt to the new environment in Vietnam without much difficulty. I'm also happy that winning with the Vietnamese national team at the AFF Cup showed some Korean football fans that I'm still alive. For people in Southeast Asia, the AFF Cup is like a World Cup specifically for this region."

At just 49 years old, an age considered young among professional coaches, Coach Kim Sang-sik has already achieved glory at both club and national team levels. His next goals are to win the 2025 SEA Games with the Vietnam U23 team and to lead the Vietnamese national team to the 2027 Asian Cup. In Korea, Kim Sang-sik is known as "the venomous snake" (toksa). This "serpent" has recently struck fear into the hearts of Southeast Asian football. Now, perhaps it's time for Kim Sang-sik, the venomous snake, to conquer new heights with the Vietnamese national team!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doc-xa-kim-sang-sik-giup-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-hai-qua-ngot-chan-troi-con-rong-mo-185250108190317394.htm