Which 'wings' for U22 Vietnam?

In coach Kim Sang Sik's tactical plan, the U22 Vietnam full-backs are very important with high crosses for the strikers to finish.

Is Van Khang the number one choice for the left-back position? - Photo: NK

After the arrangements and testing in the recent tournament, which "wings" will Mr. Kim choose for the SEA Games 33 gold medal campaign?

Flexible "wings"

At the recent Panda Cup 2025 in China, Acting Head Coach Dinh Hong Vinh arranged two different pairs of full-backs in each half.

In which, the pair Khuat Van Khang (left) - Vo Anh Quan (right) started twice in the 1-0 win over U22 China and the 0-1 loss to U22 Korea. The duo Phi Hoang (left) - Minh Phuc (right) started in the 0-1 loss to U22 Uzbekistan.

Looking back at the journey to win the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship in Indonesia in July, coach Kim Sang Sik's number one "wings" were Phi Hoang - Anh Quan.

This duo started all 4 matches and had many good passes that contributed to the victory of the Vietnam U23 team. At that time, Van Khang was arranged to play as left forward and Minh Phuc came on to replace Anh Quan in the second half.

However, everything changed in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers in September in Vietnam. In this tournament, coach Kim Sang Sik continuously rotated Phi Hoang - Anh Quan, Van Khang - Minh Phuc, then Phi Hoang - Minh Phuc started in 3 matches.

Although there are still various limitations when testing personnel on both wings, the Vietnam U23 team still won all 3 matches against Bangladesh U23 (2-0), Singapore U23 (1-0) and Yemen U23 (1-0) to win a ticket to the continental final round early next year.

What is option number 1?

Coach Kim Sang Sik's difficulty is that there are too many quality players on the left wing. Van Khang and Phi Hoang are both excellent, so choosing who to play left back sometimes makes Mr. Kim have a hard time deciding. Choosing who to play between these two players sometimes depends on the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent.

Van Khang has played for the Vietnam national team under both Philippe Troussier and Kim Sang Sik. Therefore, his courage and international experience are his strengths. Besides that, his finishing ability is quite good. However, Phi Hoang is superior to Van Khang in terms of physical strength and the ability to dribble along the sideline at high speed. Especially, Phi Hoang crosses the ball very accurately.

According to statistics from the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF), Phi Hoang is the leading player in the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Tournament with many decisive passes that create scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Specifically, he had 12 passes, more than Robi Darwis (Indonesia, 11 passes) or Van Khang (10 passes). In the semi-final match against U23 Philippines alone, Phi Hoang assisted Dinh Bac and Xuan Bac twice to score goals, helping the U23 Vietnam team beat U23 Philippines 2-1.

In the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers, Phi Hoang, when replacing Van Khang in the second half, was the one who passed the ball to Van Thuan to head in the only goal in the victory against U23 Singapore.

On the right wing, Minh Phuc's superiority over Anh Quan in the final preparation phase for the SEA Games also made coach Kim Sang Sik consider who to choose to start at the 33rd SEA Games. Minh Phuc was the only one to score for the U22 Vietnam team in the victory over host U22 China at the Panda Cup 2025, even though he only came on as a substitute.

More importantly, he is showing good form for the Hanoi Police Club (CAHN), scoring 1 goal in 5 appearances (2 starts) in the V-League 2025 - 2026. This number is impressive for a young defender playing in a star-studded team like CAHN. It is worth mentioning that he is even better than Dinh Bac - a striker teammate at CAHN who played 9 matches but has not scored any goals.

Minh Phuc’s strengths lie in his skillful ball handling techniques, accurate passing ability and speed in escaping the opponent’s pressing. In addition, his sharp tactical vision helps him make quick and effective decisions.

The race between Minh Phuc and Anh Quan from now until SEA Games 33 will therefore be even more intense.

Vietnam U22 team plays in Bangkok

Thai press yesterday (November 26) reported that the 33rd SEA Games organizing committee has decided to move 10 events from Songkhla to Bangkok due to severe flooding there. This means that U22 Vietnam will compete in Group B of the men's football in Bangkok instead of Songkhla as originally planned.

However, the official decision of the host country Thailand was only made today (November 27). It is likely that coach Kim Sang Sik and his team will play at Thammasat Stadium (Pathum Thani), about 50km from Bangkok. This is because Rajamangala Stadium of Group A has the host U22 Thailand playing as well as the semi-finals and finals.

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NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/doi-canh-nao-cho-u22-viet-nam-20251127095856055.htm