Rated conservatively
Coach Kim Sang-sik (born in 1976) was the first person to announce that he wanted to lead the Vietnamese team. Before becoming a coach, the Korean military leader was a famous midfielder of the "Land of Kimchi". Mr. Kim Sang-sik plays as a center back and won the K-League 1 championship three times while playing for Seongnam Ilhwa (1999 - 2008). In 2009, he moved to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and won the championship title two more times.
Retiring in 2013, Mr. Kim Sang-sik switched to coaching as an assistant at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. After 8 years, he was promoted to become head coach. This is the first and only time he has received this task in his coaching career. Coach Kim Sang-sik also started his coaching career impressively with the K-League 1 championship in 2021 and the Korean FA Cup in 2022 (finishing second in K-League 1 the same year).
Coach Kim Sang-sik is one of the young coaches in Korea
If evaluated based on achievements, Mr. Kim Sang-sik is definitely a "genuine" coach. However, experts in Korea are not really impressed with the 47-year-old military leader.
In his first year as a coach, he helped Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors win the championship but had to go through a tight race to defeat Ulsan Hyundai with a gap of 2 points. Ulsan Hyundai had a "crisis" in the squad, so the team's performance was also evaluated as unconvincing. In the AFC Champions League, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors was in the same group as the Vietnamese team HAGL but struggled in both matches (winning 2-1 and drawing 0-1). They only ranked second in the group, behind Yokohama of Japan.
Unstable performance is a frequent problem for the team led by coach Kim Sang-sik. In addition, coach Kim Sang-sik was also heavily criticized for his overly defensive style of play and safe ball control. The philosophy of the coach born in 1976 is to never rush to score unless the match is about to end or they have conceded a goal.
In addition, his use of players on the field is also considered quite conservative. Although the team has enough depth, he is willing to let one player play many positions because they ensure trust. As a result, during his final time leading Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, many players were injured and led to bad results, forcing him to resign.
He was considered quite conservative and the team's playing style was not really spectacular
Former teacher of Luong Xuan Truong
The second candidate mentioned by Korean media is coach Kim Do-hoon. Compared to coach Kim Sang-sik, he does not really stand out in terms of coaching. Mr. Kim Do-hoon started his coaching career as assistant coach of Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma from 2 to 2005. In 2012 he moved to become an assistant coach for the Gangwon team. It was not until 2013 that he began leading Incheon United.
Mr. Kim Do-hoon is an enthusiastic coach on the field and is willing to "win or lose" with the opponent to protect his students. In 2020, he ended his work in Korea and moved to coaching in Singapore. Here, he led Lion City Sailors and the 1970-born leader made Singapore fans stir when he fought with Tampines Rovers coach Mustafic Fahrudin. Immediately afterwards, the Singapore Football Federation and the police had to intervene and discipline him.
With Vietnamese football, Mr. Kim Do-hoon worked with Luong Xuan Truong when the former HAGL player played for Incheon United. In addition, the 54-year-old coach also encountered former Vietnam team coach Park Hang-seo in friendly matches.
Mr. Kim Do-hoon is very enthusiastic on the leadership bench
In general, both candidates mentioned by Korean media are very personable. They also have certain achievements in the past, especially both of them were successful in Asia and have come into contact with Vietnamese players. However, until now the Vietnam Football Federation has not announced any approach.
