Coach Kim Sang Sik: "The victory against Thailand has historical significance"

(Dan Tri) - The Vietnamese team defeated Thailand 3-2 at Rajamangala Stadium on the evening of January 5 and won the 2024 AFF Cup championship. After the match, coach Kim Sang Sik was proud of his players' fighting spirit.

Appearing at the press conference after the match, coach Kim Sang Sik could not hide his joy: "The victory over Thailand is historic. The match was difficult but thanks to the support of all the Vietnamese people, we won. I also thank all the players for not giving up and fighting to the end. The whole team went through a very difficult tournament. I have won the K-League before, but that was at the club level. With the national team, this is the first time I have experienced this feeling, I want to thank the players. As a club coach, I also had many victories, but the championship with the national team has great significance". Regarding future plans, the Korean strategist shared: "This is just the beginning, the whole team has completed the first goal. Ahead of us are the final qualifying rounds of the Asian Cup and the SEA Games. I am excited and will consider the tournaments as a new beginning for Vietnamese football ".

Coach Kim Sang Sik is proud of the Vietnamese players (Photo: Huong Duong).

The Vietnamese team traveled to Rajamangala Stadium (Bangkok, Thailand) with a 2-1 advantage in the first leg of the final. Starting confidently, coach Kim Sang Sik's team played calmly and scored the opening goal from Pham Tuan Hai in the 8th minute. Thailand quickly pressed the field, causing the Vietnamese team to struggle to defend. The red team suffered a big loss when Xuan Son was seriously injured and had to leave the field in the 32nd minute. At the end of the first half, Thailand equalized 1-1 thanks to Davies after a beautiful long-range shot. In the second half, a controversial situation occurred in the 64th minute when Supachok fired a shot that defeated goalkeeper Dinh Trieu, narrowing the score to 1-2. This was an ugly situation for the Thai players as according to the rules, they had to return the ball to the Vietnamese team. Although Thailand scored a valid goal, this was not a fair-play goal. When the scores of the two matches were equal, Thailand suffered a big loss when Weerathep Pomphan received a red card for fouling Tuan Hai. The home team had only 10 men left on the field and the Vietnamese team pressed the field, the highlight of the match came in the 82nd minute when Tuan Hai's shot hit Pansa's foot into the net, equalizing 2-2 for the away team. Thailand attacked heavily at the end of the match but the strikers seemed quite hasty. In the 16th minute of extra time, when the Thai goalkeeper was high up, Hai Long had a shot from midfield into the net, sealing a 3-2 victory for the Vietnamese team at Rajamangala Stadium. Beating Thailand with a final score of 5-3 after two final matches, coach Kim Sang Sik's team was crowned the 2024 AFF Cup champion right on Thai soil. This is the third time the Vietnamese team has reached the highest peak of Southeast Asian football.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hlv-kim-sang-sik-chien-thang-truoc-tuyen-thai-lan-mang-y-nghia-lich-su-20250105221748557.htm