The silence behind the championship of U23 Vietnam at the Southeast Asian tournament

Good and bad of coach Kim Sang-sik

Coach Kim Sang-sik has won the second championship title with Vietnamese football in less than a year. The Korean coach has affirmed his ability and position in the Southeast Asian front. Mr. Kim's formula for success is simple but practical. It is to choose the most experienced and best names at each team level, serving the tournaments at the corresponding level.

photo 2.jpg -0 — Coach Kim Sang-sik does not use many young players for U23 Vietnam.

For example, at the AFF Cup 2024, coach Kim Sang-sik did not prioritize young players. Trung Kien and Van Khang are rare names appearing in a squad of veterans who have been involved for many years in the international arena, from club level to national teams. A similar story happened with the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers. Safety and certainty are the guiding principles in the Kim strategist's recruitment.

The story is similar to the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Finals, or more precisely, the journey of building a squad towards the 2026 Asian U23 qualifiers and the 33rd SEA Games of the Vietnam U23 team. Coach Kim Sang-sik still experimented, but soon narrowed down a satisfactory squad. This happened quickly in just the past 4 months. So that the team participating in the regional tournament in Indonesia was among the most combative, compared to other competing teams.

Van Truong, Van Khang, Trung Kien, Phi Hoang all won the U23 Southeast Asian Championship 2 years ago. Notably, Nguyen Quoc Viet also won the regional tournament 3 times. More broadly, many players registered to participate in the tournament are also at the age of U23. Ly Duc, Duc Anh, Tuan Phong, Nhat Minh, Thai Son, Xuan Bac, Quoc Viet are all 22 years old. Ngoc My, Van Ha, Anh Quan, Van Truong, Thanh Dat, Minh Phuc, Ngoc My or even Viktor Le will only be eligible to participate in the only SEA Games taking place at the end of this year. If eliminated, the opportunity to compete in the regional sports festival in the future will also close for many names in this group.

Two years ago, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan enthusiastically talked about the legacy and future prospects for U23 Vietnam, when the team he led possessed the youngest squad in the tournament. After two years, U23 Vietnam is still the champion. But the number of players who bring hope to a team of this level can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Nguyen Cong Phuong and Le Van Thuan are two rare names under 20 years old, capable of playing for U23 Vietnam for another SEA Games in the future. Among them, Cong Phuong soon made a special mark, in the semi-finals and finals. The promising potential of the 19-year-old player of The Cong Viettel brought excitement to fans. But one swallow does not make a spring. Having too few young players to succeed the seniors at U23 Vietnam is a lull in the working style that emphasizes practicality and immediate effectiveness from coach Kim Sang-sik.

Waiting for coach Kim Sang-sik's promise
Returning to Vietnam after the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, coach Kim Sang-sik quickly planned the squad for the national team. He emphasized that many players who performed well in the U23 Vietnam squad will be included in the "Golden Star Warriors", aiming for the matches against Laos and Nepal, in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
“The current generation of U23 Vietnam players is talented and of high quality. I want to unify the playing style of both the national team and U23 Vietnam. From there, the U23 players will integrate more easily when they are called up to the national team. The door to the national team is always open to U23 players,” Coach Kim Sang-sik confided.
The players who played well in the last tournament were Phi Hoang, Dinh Bac, Van Khang, Cong Phuong and Xuan Bac. Of these, Phi Hoang, Cong Phuong and Xuan Bac have not been called up to the Vietnam national team in their careers.

The performance was not complete.

Vietnam U23 has been crowned the Southeast Asian U23 champion with a series of 4 consecutive victories. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team defeated Laos U23 (3-0), Cambodia U23 (2-1), Philippines U23 (2-1) and Indonesia U23 (1-0). This is the second time in the history of the Southeast Asian U23 Finals that a champion team has won all 90 minutes in all participating matches.

Everything is perfect in terms of general statistics. But looking closely at the matches of U23 Vietnam, the performance of Van Truong and his teammates is not as effective as expected. It is agreed that U23 Vietnam has shown its uniqueness in coordinating high balls, especially from the left wing. However, in the close-quarter finishing phase, the "Golden Star Warriors" still wasted too many opportunities.

If the opponents of U23 Vietnam are more experienced, cunning and sharp, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will have a very difficult time in their journey to win the Southeast Asian championship for the third consecutive time. For example, in the final match, U23 Indonesia actually had a clear chance at the beginning of the first half. If the other team had finished better and scored first, U23 Vietnam would not have been so alert to implement such an effective counter-attacking strategy at Gelora Bung Karno.

Defensive ability is also something that U23 Vietnam needs to focus on after this tournament. It cannot be denied that Trung Kien and his teammates performed well when keeping a clean sheet in the final match against U23 Indonesia. However, looking back at previous matches, the team led by coach Kim Sang-sik still made mistakes related to defending from high balls. The competitive mentality is also a lesson that needs to be learned after the tournament in Indonesia. Ly Duc and Anh Quan committed unnecessary fouls or argued in the final match against U23 Indonesia. Nhat Minh and Hieu Minh need to be more decisive and confident when facing high pressure from the opposing team.

In the end, U23 Vietnam won the absolute championship. The mark of a strong, experienced squad was highly promoted in the regional tournament. But behind that were still inevitable flaws, when coach Kim Sang-sik accepted to trade efficiency instead of risking experimenting with "immature" names.

Vietnam U23 team was proposed to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister
On July 31, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) Trinh Thi Thuy signed Document No. 310/TTr-BVHTTDL to the Prime Minister on awarding the Prime Minister's Certificate of Merit to collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship held in Indonesia.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism submitted to the Prime Minister a Certificate of Merit to the Vietnam U23 Team; 23 players and 1 coach of the Vietnam U23 Team had excellent achievements in winning the Gold Medal at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship (held in Indonesia).
The above commendation cases have been reviewed and assessed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to ensure compliance with regulations on subjects, standards, procedures and documents as prescribed by the Law on Emulation and Commendation.
Previously, in the final match of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship, the Vietnam U23 team excellently won against the Indonesia U23 team with a score of 1-0, thereby winning the regional championship for the third consecutive time.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the above achievements are the result of thorough preparation, the resilient fighting spirit of the players and the flexible direction of the coaching staff. This success also opens up hope for Vietnamese youth football in the upcoming continental tournaments.
After two consecutive championships in 2022 and 2023, the Vietnam U23 team has become the first team in history to win the Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship for three consecutive seasons. In addition, coach Kim Sang-sik also became the first coach to win both the national team and U23 championships in Southeast Asia.
Previously, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism also decided to award Certificates of Merit to 5 individuals who had contributed to the Vietnam U23 team winning the Southeast Asian championship, including: Mr. Tran Anh Tu, Head of the Vietnam U23 Team; Mr. Do Anh Van, interpreter; Mr. Nguyen Truong An, doctor of the Vietnam U23 Team; Mr. Vu Anh Dung, medical staff of the National U23 Men's Football Team; Mr. Luu Quang Loi, medical staff of the Vietnam U23 Team. ( Nguyen Binh)

Source: https://cand.com.vn/van-hoa/khoang-lang-phia-sau-chuc-vo-dich-cua-u23-viet-nam-tai-giai-dong-nam-a-i776704/