Coach Kim Sang-sik: 'U23 Vietnam is capable of winning the Southeast Asian championship'

After the 2-1 victory over U23 Philippines in the semi-finals, coach Kim Sang-sik expressed satisfaction with the performance of U23 Vietnam and affirmed that his team is ready for the final match of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament.

Coach Kim Sang-sik is confident that U23 Vietnam can win the championship. Photo: VFF .

“I am very happy to win and reach the final. The players tried very hard, I want to thank them. All positions played well, performing exactly as we had prepared," coach Kim Sang-sik said at a press conference after the match on the afternoon of July 25. "We created many opportunities and followed good tactics. Although we won 2-1, we missed many opportunities to end the match earlier. However, I am very happy with this result."

Evaluating the potential opponent in the final match, the Korean strategist shared: “U23 Indonesia also tried to play in control, but not as well as U23 Vietnam. They are strong in releasing the ball behind the opponent's defense. I need to watch the remaining semi-final match to clearly analyze the difference between the previous coach Shin Tae-yong and the current coach. I think U23 Indonesia is stronger now.”

Coach Kim Sang-sik emphasized that the most important thing for U23 Vietnam is confidence and good preparation: "No matter who we meet, the final match will be very difficult. But if we maintain the confidence we have today, U23 Vietnam can beat any opponent and win the championship."

The 1976-born coach also gave words of encouragement to Le Viktor, a Vietnamese-Russian player: “He is an important part of the team. However, Viktor needs to improve his ball control, confidence and finishing skills to contribute better.”

Meanwhile, striker Xuan Bac - who scored the winning goal 2-1 for U23 Vietnam shared: "This was a difficult match but the coaching staff came up with a reasonable strategy for us to win. We need to improve our finishing ability so as not to miss too many opportunities like today."

Coach Gareth McPherson regrets when U23 Philippines lost.

On the other side of the front line, coach Gareth McPherson of the U23 Philippines expressed disappointment after the defeat: “We are sad because we believed we could win this match with the quality of the current squad. Vietnam is a strong team and controlled the match well. We tried to break that style of play but failed.”

However, Mr. McPherson said that the U23 Philippines still learned many valuable lessons: "We have a squad with many young players, including those who are playing for universities. Facing the defending champions helps the players learn and prepare better for the U23 Asian qualifiers and the SEA Games."

He also highly appreciated both U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia when emphasizing: "Both teams are very strong, especially in set pieces. Vietnam plays very dangerously when controlling the ball in the opponent's half."

Source: https://znews.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-u23-viet-nam-du-suc-vo-dich-dong-nam-a-post1571694.html