How strong will the Vietnamese team be facing in South Korea?

Identifying Vietnam's opponent

The Vietnamese national team will assemble on November 21st, then travel to South Korea for their final training camp before the 2024 AFF Cup.

Instead of friendly matches against other national teams like in previous FIFA Days, the Vietnamese national team will test their skills against South Korean teams. Specifically, coach Kim Sang-sik's team will play two matches, one of which will be against Gyeongju KHNP FC.

Gyeongju KHNP currently plays in the Korean third division (K-League 3). Last season, the team finished in third place with 56 points after 30 matches, 4 points behind champions Siheung Citizen FC.

The Vietnamese national team is about to depart for a training camp in South Korea.

Because they play in K-League 3, information about Gyeongju, such as their professional quality and squad value, is relatively limited. Gyeongju FC finished second in K-League 3 in 2020, having previously won the championship in 2017 and 2018, when K-League 3 was still called the Korea Nation League, part of the South Korean semi-professional league system.

The only noteworthy piece of information is that Gyeongju plays in the same league as Changwon FC, the team that coach Park Hang-seo managed in 2017 before coming to Vietnam.

Gyeongju FC, coached by Seo Bo-won, plays at the Gyeongju Civic Stadium, which has a capacity of approximately 12,000 seats. In their last 8 matches in the K-League 3, Gyeongju won 4, drew 1, and lost 3.

Vietnam's remaining opponent will be determined in the next few days.

Why play against a South Korean semi-professional team?

Compared to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, the club that Kim Sang-sik once coached, or familiar names in Vietnamese football such as Ulsan Hyundai, Incheon United, Pohang Steelers, etc., Gyeongju is clearly on a much lower level.

This team recently lost to Daegu's B team 1-2 in K-League 3, while Daegu is only a mid-table club in K-League 1.

Coach Kim Sang-sik is having difficulty finding quality sparring partners.

The question is: why hasn't the Vietnamese national team been able to find stronger opponents like those in K-League 1 or K-League 2?

With K-League 1 nearing its end, the final round of the season will only conclude on November 24th. After that, K-League 1 teams will finish the season and enter a period of rest, making it very difficult for clubs to accept invitations for friendly matches.

For K-League 2, the season concluded with the final round on November 9th. However, like the K-League 1 teams, the second-division clubs are currently on a break. Finding opponents for upcoming training camps will not be easy.

Finally, K-League 3 concluded on November 2nd. By now, teams like Gyeongju have had over two weeks of rest and are ready for their next match.

Instead of concentrating the Vietnamese national team during the FIFA Days friendly matches, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) decided to let the V-League take place during this period, then have the national team train continuously from November 21st until the AFF Cup 2024 to ensure the continuity of the training process.

Because the matches took place outside of FIFA Days, the Vietnamese national team couldn't play friendly matches against other national teams and had to choose clubs as their opponents. The end of the year is also a time when national leagues are still in session, so deciding which team to play against is a real headache.

It's not easy to find strong opponents with the AFF Cup just around the corner. The Thai national team also recently played a friendly match against Laos (a 1-1 draw), while Malaysia, the Philippines, and Myanmar have played matches within Southeast Asia to test their squads.

This is a common difficulty for teams eliminated early in World Cup qualifiers. Because strong teams like Japan, South Korea, Iran, Australia, etc., are busy competing in the third round, the teams that were eliminated early have to be content with more manageable opponents.

Over the past two months, the Vietnamese national team has played friendly matches against three opponents. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team lost to Russia (0-3) and Thailand (1-2), and drew with India (1-1).

The Vietnamese national team will begin their journey at the AFF Cup 2024 on December 9th with an away match against Laos. In Group B, Quang Hai and his teammates will face Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Myanmar.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-sap-gap-doi-thu-manh-co-nao-o-han-quoc-185241118080346221.htm