Weaknesses that could shatter U22 Vietnam's dream of winning the 33rd SEA Games gold medal

TPO - The attack line is still wasting opportunities while the midfield is not yet balanced. These are the weaknesses that U22 Vietnam needs to overcome if coach Kim Sang-sik and his team want to think about the SEA Games 33 gold medal in Thailand.

The U22 Vietnam strikers still wasted opportunities.

The recent unsatisfactory performance at the Panda Cup 2025 is not too important, because this is purely a friendly tournament to help U22 Vietnam train its troops. However, it still partly reveals the problems that coach Kim Sang-sik's young army has not solved well.

The most notable of which is the ability to create and take advantage of opportunities of the attack line. The playing style of U22 Vietnam is not special, especially the attacks lack diversity and sharpness. This may stem from the lack of cohesion in the midfield, not to mention the fact that U22 Vietnam's opponents are all better.

If we look back at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship in Indonesia or the 2026 Asian U23 Qualifiers, even though they achieved their goals (winning the Southeast Asian U23 Championship and qualifying for the Asian U23 Finals), U22 Vietnam still had problems with their attack when they wasted many opportunities. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team will have to pay the price at the 33rd SEA Games if this situation recurs in key matches.

Coach Kim Sang-sik needs to perfect U22 Vietnam's playing style before SEA Games 33

It seems that strikers like Dinh Bac, Thanh Nhan or Quoc Viet have not yet reached their peak performance. Hopefully this will improve at SEA Games 33.

Another problem is the midfield, which will be without Nguyen Van Truong due to injury. Khuat Van Khang, Thai Son, and Le Viktor are all promising players, but it is clear that the coordination in the midfield of U22 Vietnam is not yet smooth. This makes U22 Vietnam unable to completely control the game against the opponent, the ability to take initiative in rhythm and speed is not good, and there is a lack of creativity in attacks.

To compensate, coach Kim Sang-sik seems to be letting U22 Vietnam make the most of set pieces, or use additional weapons such as Pham Ly Duc or Hieu Minh. Getting through the group stage is not a difficult problem for U22 Vietnam. However, from the semi-finals, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will face a real challenge against opponents of equal level, with the pressure to win. This is a problem that the Korean coach needs to overcome before U22 Vietnam enters the race at SEA Games 33.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nhuoc-diem-co-the-khien-u22-viet-nam-vo-mong-hcv-sea-games-33-post1798795.tpo