Coach Kim Sang-sik unexpectedly calls back overseas Vietnamese player to U22 Vietnam

(NLDO) - Coach Kim Sang-sik has just announced the list of 28 players of the Vietnam U22 team for the final training session to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games.

This training session of U22 Vietnam is an important preparation step in the journey to build a force to participate in men's football at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games and towards the 2026 U23 Asian finals.

The core force of the U22 Vietnam team is still the faces that have been regularly called up, trained and competed since the end of 2024 until now. This is a class of players with rich international competition experience, participating in high-quality tours and training abroad.

Through friendly matches and competition with strong Asian opponents, the U22 Vietnam team has grown significantly, shaped its playing style and improved its expertise. In 2025, U22 Vietnam also made an impression when it won the Southeast Asian U23 Championship and entered the final round of the 2026 Asian U23 Championship with a perfect record in the qualifying round of the tournament.

However, during the tour to China on the occasion of FIFA Days in November 2025, U22 Vietnam suffered a loss of strength, when captain Nguyen Van Truong suffered a serious injury and needed a lot of time for treatment and rest to recover.

Van Truong (left) suffered a serious injury and will be out of SEA Games 33.

Specifically, in the final match of the 2025 Panda Cup international friendly tournament between U22 Vietnam and U22 Korea, midfielder Van Truong suffered knee ligament damage and was forced to undergo surgery. This means that the player born in 2003 cannot join the national U22 team at the 33rd SEA Games.

Van Truong is an energetic, intelligent player who plays an important role in the team's play, and can play both central and attacking midfielder positions. To replace Van Truong, coach Kim Sang-sik recalled Tran Thanh Trung - a Vietnamese-American player currently playing for Ninh Binh Club. This 20-year-old midfielder first joined the Vietnam U23 team in August 2025, but was injured and could not participate in the recent Panda Cup 2025.

In that context, in order to ensure the depth of the U22 Vietnam squad, Mr. Kim still maintains the stable framework that has been established over time, while adding some factors such as Nguyen Le Phat and Nguyen Duc Viet. These are all players who are familiar with the team environment, grasp the tactical requirements and integrate well with the general playing style.

According to the plan, the U22 Vietnam team will gather in Vung Tau on November 23, before moving to Thailand on December 1, participating in the 33rd SEA Games. In the group stage, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will face U22 Laos (December 4) and U22 Malaysia (December 11).

Not only Van Truong is absent, U22 Vietnam will also not have the services of midfielder Pham Minh Phuc and striker Nguyen Dinh Bac in the opening match. This duo must play for the Hanoi Police Club in the Southeast Asia Cup C1 and can only join U22 Vietnam on December 4, the same day U22 Vietnam will play against U22 Laos.

Losing many key players in the opening match, the U22 Vietnam coaching staff must have a plan to rotate the squad appropriately, preserve strength for important matches, and at the same time maximize the cohesion and mettle of the players.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-bat-ngo-goi-lai-cau-thu-viet-kieu-len-u22-viet-nam-196251121205056305.htm