Coach Kim Sang-sik awaits the voice of U.23 Vietnam
Coach Kim Sang-sik's first year with Vietnamese football ended with many ups and downs.
Mr. Kim had a difficult start when the Vietnamese team had 3 friendlies without a win against Russia, Thailand and India. However, thanks to the right physical training method, reasonable personnel selection, especially with the appearance of naturalized striker Nguyen Xuan Son, Mr. Kim and his team overcame doubts to win the AFF Cup 2024.
However, the 0-4 defeat to Malaysia on the evening of June 10 not only made it difficult for the Vietnamese team to participate in the 2027 Asian Cup, but also brought the entire team back to earth.
Mr. Kim and his associates are about to embark on a new journey.
Photo: Ngoc Linh
When the opponent continuously naturalizes thanks to the open policy, willing to spend money to bring in 5 foreign players (even Malaysian fans and media do not know when these players... got Malaysian nationality) as long as they win the match, the question of whether the Vietnamese team should enter the naturalization race with Malaysia and Indonesia has appeared.
However, naturalization is only a temporary solution. Look at the path that leading Asian football nations such as Japan, South Korea, Iran or Uzbekistan have chosen: no naturalization, or if there is, it is very little and carefully selected. The strength of football lies in human training and player quality.
Should we naturalize players en masse: Lessons from other football backgrounds?
When the core players of the Vietnamese team have gradually run out of physical strength and motivation, showing a comprehensive loss in both technical and tactical aspects and spirit against the "Malaysian" squad at Bukit Jalil, it is not the naturalized players, but the young generation that coach Kim Sang-sik and fans should look forward to.
However, in the night of the defeat at Bukit Jalil, only 1 U.23 Vietnam player was present. That was central defender Pham Ly Duc, the name that Mr. Kim reluctantly chose when Nguyen Thanh Chung and Bui Tien Dung were injured.
Center back Ly Duc is a last resort, as the Vietnamese team's defense is out of players.
PHOTO: NGOC LINH
After 10 years, the Vietnamese team is facing the current situation of lacking young players. The U.23 players are struggling to find a place in the club, unable to impress coach Kim during their training days with the national team, and now only have 1 last year to be called "young players".
The headache called 'next generation'
Coach Kim Sang-sik has been following this generation of players for a year and has only been able to select 2 or 3 players for the national team.
And now, he will directly train and evaluate the expertise, not to create a young team to hunt for awards, but to use that as a basis to select potential factors for the Vietnam team.
Winning the SEA Games, qualifying for the U.23 Asian Cup finals... may still be familiar goals. Football is all about achievement, but at the youth level, achievement is just a simple step on the path to maturity for each individual.
The 2017 U.23 Vietnam team was eliminated in the group stage of the SEA Games, but after only 5 months, they reached the final of the 2018 U.23 Asia Championship and wrote a new page in the history of Vietnamese football.
However, the U.23 Vietnam team that won the SEA Games in 2022 is now almost no one in the national team. That is the nature of youth football. Achievements are not as important as how many factors that generation of players will provide for the Vietnam team, and should not be placed more heavily than setting a development roadmap for young players to have a place in the V-League, then gradually advance to the national team level.
Coach Kim Sang-sik will join the U.23 Vietnam team in the 2026 U.23 Asian qualifiers and the 33rd SEA Games in the last 4 months of the year. Hopefully, coach Kim will focus all his efforts on nurturing the next generation, preparing the players with a good enough physical, technical, tactical and psychological foundation to create a launching pad for the reform of the Vietnamese team.
Perhaps, that is the sustainable path, instead of being completely caught up in the race for naturalization, then forgetting the most essential things.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/den-luc-hlv-kim-sang-sik-nhao-nan-tuong-lai-bong-da-viet-nam-185250612100940142.htm
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