Conflict in the attack
Before the 33rd SEA Games and the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, Vietnam U22 team has gone through 4 international qualifying and selection tournaments. These are CFA Team China 2025 (March), 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship (July), 2026 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers (September) and Panda Cup 2025 (November).
The positive point from these 4 tournaments is the diversity in scoring of U22 Vietnam. A total of 15 goals were scored by Coach Kim Sang-sik's students in the 4 tournaments above. More interestingly, 12 players took turns to put their names on the scoreboard, revolving around these 15 goals. The list of players shining for U22 Vietnam ranges from strikers to midfielders and defenders. In addition to Thanh Nhan, Hieu Minh, Dinh Bac scoring a double, Quoc Viet, Minh Phuc, Van Khang, Ly Duc, Xuan Bac, Cong Phuong, Van Thuan, Viktor Le and Ngoc My contributed 1 goal.
Vietnam U22's attack plans are varied. At the U23 Southeast Asian tournament, against opponents who prioritize defense, coach Kim Sang-sik's team takes advantage of high balls and set pieces to break the deadlock. Against teams of higher level such as Uzbekistan, South Korea or China, Vietnam U22 focuses on exploiting counter-attacks, relying on the speed of the strikers and full-backs.
The commendable factor in these matches is the ability to hold the ball, confidently develop based on short passes, and move without the ball in a team that understands each other more and more of U22 Vietnam. For example, in the match against U22 Uzbekistan in the Panda Cup 2025 friendly tournament, the "Young Warriors of the Golden Star" made 15-16 passes from home to the opponent's penalty area.
The positive side is that the downside of the diversity of attacks from U22 Vietnam is the stability of some individuals playing the role of "spearhead". In fact, a problem that coach Kim Sang-sik faces is that he lacks a "goal machine" with high efficiency in tournaments. As the statistics above show, no player has scored more than 3 goals for U22 Vietnam throughout the year. And until before the 33rd SEA Games took place, this story still had no thorough solution.
Who will be the "main striker"?
Looking at the Panda Cup 2025 - the pre-SEA Games 33 tournament of U22 Vietnam, the lack of a striker really makes it difficult for the team to deploy and take advantage of opportunities. It cannot be denied that Coach Kim Sang-sik's students have done well in controlling the game or coordinating smoothly in many situations. But it is worth mentioning that the ending point has no real destination to convert into efficiency.
The match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Uzbekistan at the Panda Cup is a proof. The team was really confused in approaching the opponent's goal. And only when Acting Head Coach Dinh Hong Vinh brought striker Ngoc My onto the field, the danger and effectiveness in the final phases of the team really increased significantly. With a height of over 1m80, being able to cover and press Ngoc My helped his teammates find a support point when coordinating in the penalty area.
In addition, the fact that U22 Vietnam has an invisible striker will attract the attention of the opposing team's defenders. That also helps Kim Sang-sik's team attract and stretch the opponent's defense in many situations. Ngoc My himself almost had a goal of his own, if his header had not hit the crossbar of U22 Uzbekistan.
Looking at the current roster, U22 Vietnam has a number of faces that can play the role of “number 9”, although their ability compared to the senior generations such as Tien Linh, Duc Chinh,… is still limited. In addition to Ngoc My, coach Kim Sang-sik can trust Bui Vi Hao, Nguyen Dinh Bac or even Viktor Le. In fact, at the U23 CFA Team China tournament and the U23 Southeast Asia Finals, Viktor Le and Dinh Bac played quite well in this new role.
Looking at the successful SEA Games campaigns in 2019 and 2022, predecessor Park Hang-seo benefited from having strikers Tien Linh, Duc Chinh, and Manh Dung. Obviously, coach Kim Sang-sik also really wants the strikers to have a key striker to serve the transitional stages in the match or tournament.
Headache before SEA Games
The logistics team of U22 Vietnam is going through a busy period, as host Thailand continuously makes adjustments due to both subjective and objective circumstances. Initially, U22 Vietnam was planned to compete in Chiang Mai. However, the 33rd SEA Games Organizing Committee later decided to change the host location of the group with Vietnam to Songkhla.
When the Vietnam Football Federation had completed the relocation plan, the locality suddenly experienced flooding. The infrastructure was severely affected, forcing the host country Thailand to move the U22 Vietnam matches to Bangkok. As a result, the U22 Vietnam logistics team had to cancel their tickets and look for another training ground in the Thai capital for the home team.
Most recently, U22 Cambodia withdrew from the 33rd SEA Games. This poses a risk that men's football will have to change the structure of the tournament and the organization plan. U22 Vietnam is also worried because of that. Because if the Organizing Committee conducts a draw and redistributes the group for all participating teams, U22 Vietnam's plan to study and compete against Laos and Malaysia will be gone.
Temporarily, the U22 Vietnam coaching staff is still focusing on professional work in Ba Ria.
“We are now in tune with the training intensity. Coach Kim still maintains heavy training sessions to ensure the best physical condition for the whole team. Everyone is trying their best,” striker Nguyen Thanh Nhan emphasized. “In any tournament, everyone must show their full potential so that the coaching staff can choose the most suitable person. In terms of tactics, U22 Vietnam still maintains the playing style applied in the U23 Southeast Asian tournament and the U23 Asian qualifiers.”
Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/hai-mat-hang-tien-dao-cua-u22-viet-nam-i789478/
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