Vietnam team and coach Kim Sang-sik begin journey to 'get out of the bottom'

" LET'S FIGHT AND WIN TOGETHER"

Unlike the shocking greeting of coach Philippe Troussier with the blunt statement "the team will change 40% of its force", coach Kim's debut was gentler but no less special. He called out each player's name according to the script he had prepared with his colleagues. Before that, the coach born in 1976 proactively wrote down each player's name in a notebook and asked a language assistant to show him how to pronounce it correctly. A small detail, but it shows the effort and relatively strong adaptability of the former player who participated in the 2006 World Cup.

Vietnam team has first training session under coach Kim Sang-sik

Mr. Kim emphasized: "Through direct observation of the matches in V-League, I see that the players have very good technical skills and a very strong fighting spirit. I always trust you and hope you will also trust me and the coaching staff. As representatives of the national team, we must always strive to dedicate ourselves and be determined to win every match. Let's always keep that spirit. I know you have worked very hard in the past time. Let's continue to work together to win the upcoming matches against the Philippines and Iraq."

Vietnam team and eye-catching training outfit

Also yesterday morning, coach Kim Sang-sik had to make personnel adjustments due to an unexpected incident. Having suffered a thigh injury in the match against SLNA in round 22 of the V-League just one day before, striker Nguyen Van Tung (Hanoi Club) had to rest for 4 weeks, so he missed the team's appointment in the 2 matches of the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup against the Philippines and Iraq. Mr. Kim urgently summoned the mainstay of LPBank HAGL Club Dinh Thanh Binh and he was able to attend the training session that afternoon.

HOPE MR. K IM WILL NOT WASTE HIS TALENT

One of the biggest controversies under Coach Troussier was how to use Hoang Duc, the most talented conductor of Vietnamese football at present. If Coach Park Hang-seo discovered and valued him as a central midfielder, on the contrary, the French coach tried every way to push him up to play as a striker, then as a right-sided striker. In the match against Indonesia at My Dinh Stadium in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, although the executive committee strongly proposed to move Hoang Duc to play as a central midfielder, Mr. Troussier still insisted on placing him up front, completely overwhelming our midfield.

Hoang Duc (14) is more appreciated under coach Kim Sang-sik, which is what the audience expects.

It seems that this "situation" has been carefully studied by coach Kim Sang-sik, when one of the first calculations with the new coaching staff is to bring Hoang Duc back to the middle of the field. The remaining central midfield position next to him will be a race between Tuan Anh, Thai Son, Duc Chien and Hung Dung. Young midfielder Thai Son will most likely no longer automatically win the starting position like under coach Troussier, when Mr. Kim is aiming to prioritize using experienced players like Hung Dung and Tuan Anh. Of course, those are just theoretical calculations, everything will have to wait until the Korean coach has specific assessments of performance and compatibility on the training ground. But the fact that Hoang Duc will be returned to his best position to continue to be the one holding the key to the playing style of the Vietnamese team is certain.

Quang Hai is always welcome

In this calculation, the attacking trio will probably include Tuan Hai - Tien Linh - Quang Hai (they are scoring a total of 22 goals in V-League this season). Tuan Hai and Quang Hai are playing most consistently and effectively for Hanoi FC and Hanoi Police FC. Meanwhile, Tien Linh, under the guidance of coach Le Huynh Duc, is regaining his "killer" instinct and is also more complete when participating effectively in collective play instead of the habit of "hanging a hammock" in the penalty area waiting for the ball.

Another detail that is also worth paying attention to is that when discussing tactics with his colleagues, Mr. Kim wants to apply the 3-4-3 formation. This is a formation that can help the Vietnamese team play aggressively and proactively attack against the Philippines, who lost to us 0-2 in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Manila in November 2023. Coach Kim Sang-sik is very determined in the spirit of solidarity with his students - a right mindset for the Vietnamese team to start escaping the "rock bottom".

"IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME THE VIETNAMESE TEAM HASN'T HAD THE FEELING OF WINNING"

Meeting the Vietnamese team on June 1, President of the Vietnam Football Federation Tran Quoc Tuan affirmed that no matter the circumstances, the team must always show spirit, will, desire to win, and strive to contribute to meet the expectations of fans.

Midfielder Do Hung Dung emphasized: "We know that coach Kim Sang-sik has a lot of experience with top-level football in Asia. The whole team will try to learn, focus on training and compete to achieve the best results, especially in the upcoming home match against the Philippines. It's been a long time since the Asian Cup that the team hasn't had the feeling of victory, so we will try our best to achieve the set goal."

Nhat Duy

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-va-hlv-kim-sang-sik-khoi-dau-hanh-trinh-thoat-day-185240601225237088.htm