What did Kim bring to Malaysia?

On the morning of June 6th, the Vietnamese national team departed for Kuala Lumpur to prepare for the crucial match against host Malaysia in the second round of Group F of the final qualifying stage for the 2027 Asian Cup.

The Vietnamese national team is actively preparing for the match against Malaysia - Photo: VFF

With only one internal training match against the Vietnam U22 team before departure, can coach Kim Sang Sik truly be confident in his preparations? Especially when the Vietnamese national team's attack continues to be ineffective. That is a question that experts and the public are very concerned about.

The official lineup has been revealed.

Similar to previous tactical training sessions, coach Kim Sang Sik fielded a similar lineup for the Vietnamese national team in the internal practice match against the U22 Vietnamese team on the afternoon of June 4th. This is also almost certainly the official lineup for the Vietnamese national team in the upcoming match against host Malaysia.

Accordingly, guarding the goal is Nguyen Filip - a goalkeeper with a good physique and currently showing more impressive form than Dinh Trieu. The three central defenders are Duy Manh (on the right) - Thanh Chung - Bui Tien Dung (on the left).

The four midfielders are Truong Tien Anh (right) - Hoang Duc - Minh Khoa - Cao Pendant Quang Vinh (left). The three forwards are Hai Long (right) - Tien Linh - Nguyen Van Vi (left).

It's clear that coach Kim Sang Sik's two most notable changes were on the left flank, pushing Van Vi up to play as a striker. Next, he left the defender position to the new Vietnamese-American player, Cao Pendant Quang Vinh.

According to the coaching staff's assessment, both players performed well in the training match against the Vietnam U22 team. Quang Vinh showed no signs of unfamiliarity with his teammates in his first time on the national team. Meanwhile, Van Vi continued to demonstrate his excellent attacking prowess when pushed forward to play closer to the opponent's goal.

In the central midfield position, coach Kim Sang Sik showed continued faith in the duo of Hoang Duc and Minh Khoa, just like in the opening match victory against Laos 5-0 in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup in March.

In that formation, Minh Khoa played the role of recovering the ball left behind by Doan Ngoc Tan, instead of the more experienced Duc Chien. Similarly, Tien Linh remained the highest-positioned striker in the attack. Although Tien Linh is not in good form, Coach Kim has no better center forward available.

The attack needs sharpening.

The Vietnamese national team came from behind to beat the U22 Vietnamese team 2-1 in a training match. Notably, both of Vietnam's goals were scored from the back line, not the forwards. Midfielder Hai Long's equalizer, making it 1-1, came from a corner kick.

The 2-1 lead came from a long-range shot by Chau Ngoc Quang. Worryingly, coach Kim Sang Sik's strikers have remained goalless since the two matches against Cambodia and Laos during the FIFA Days in March.

The fact that key strikers like Tien Linh and Pham Tuan Hai failed to score, even against weaker opponents or the U22 team, is worrying for coach Kim Sang Sik. This is because Malaysia has undoubtedly studied the strengths and weaknesses of the Vietnamese team in order to secure a victory.

The home team is also very formidable with a host of quality naturalized players, both old and new, spread across all three lines. Furthermore, playing at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, with a capacity of 90,000 spectators, will put considerable pressure on the Vietnamese national team, not only for their attack but also for their defense.

According to the plan, coach Kim Sang Sik and his team were scheduled to have a training session on the afternoon of June 5th in Hanoi to review their performance after the friendly match against Vietnam U22. However, this training session was canceled to allow the players to recover as best as possible before their departure.

Thus, the Vietnamese team only has 4 training sessions (actually 3 tactical training sessions) left in Malaysia to prepare for the match. Therefore, improving and sharpening the underperforming attack is what coach Kim Sang Sik must consider in order to help his "cannons" score against the host nation Malaysia.

Otherwise, Kim also has to have a backup plan: continuing to rely on wing players to score goals. This is not easy, given that Malaysia also understands this strength of the Vietnamese team and will try to neutralize and shut down stars like Hai Long, Van Vi, and Quang Hai…

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NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ong-kim-mang-gi-sang-malaysia-20250606093024425.htm