What did Mr. Kim bring to Malaysia?

On the morning of June 6, the Vietnamese team left for Kuala Lumpur to prepare for the important match with host Malaysia in the second match of Group F of the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.

Vietnam team actively prepares for the match with Malaysia - Photo: VFF

With only one internal practice match against U22 Vietnam before the trip, is coach Kim Sang Sik really confident in his preparation? Especially when the Vietnamese team's attack continues to be silent. That is a question that experts and the public are very interested in.

Official lineup revealed

Not unlike previous tactical training sessions, coach Kim Sang Sik arranged a similar lineup for the Vietnamese team in the internal practice match with U22 Vietnam on the afternoon of June 4. This is also almost the official lineup of the Vietnamese team for the upcoming match against host Malaysia.

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

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

It can be seen that the two notable changes of coach Kim Sang Sik were both on the left wing when he pushed Van Vi 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, both players played well in the practice match with U22 Vietnam. Quang Vinh was not surprised by his teammates in his first time on the national team. Van Vi continued to show his good penetrating ability when he was pushed up to play close to the opponent's goal.

In the central midfield position, coach Kim Sang Sik showed that he continues to put his trust in the duo Hoang Duc - Minh Khoa like in the opening match against Laos 5-0 in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup in March.

In which, Minh Khoa plays the role of recovering the ball left by Doan Ngoc Tan instead of the more experienced player Duc Chien. Similarly, Tien Linh is still the highest striker in the attack. Although Tien Linh is not in good form, Mr. Kim has no better striker.

Need to sharpen the attack

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

The 2-1 lead came from a long-range shot by Chau Ngoc Quang. What is worrying is that coach Kim Sang Sik's strikers have not scored since the two matches against Cambodia and Laos during the FIFA Days in March until now.

The fact that key strikers like Tien Linh and Pham Tuan Hai did not score, even against weak opponents or U22 juniors, is a worrying thing for coach Kim Sang Sik. That is because Malaysia has certainly studied the strengths and weaknesses of the Vietnamese team in order to win.

The home team is also very formidable with a series of quality old and new naturalized players, spread across all three lines. Not to mention, playing at Bukit Jalil Stadium with a capacity of 90,000 spectators is also a great pressure, not only for the attack but also the defense of the Vietnamese team.

According to the plan, coach Kim Sang Sik and his team had a training session on the afternoon of June 5 in Hanoi to gain experience after the practice match with U22 Vietnam. However, this training session was canceled to help the players recover best before leaving.

Thus, the Vietnamese team only has 4 training sessions (actually 3 tactical training sessions) left in Malaysia to prepare for the match. Therefore, how to improve and sharpen the underperforming attack is what coach Kim Sang Sik must calculate to help his "cannons" score against the home team Malaysia.

If not, Mr. Kim must also have a second option, which is to continue to put his faith in the wingers to score. This is not easy in the context that Malaysia also clearly understands this strength of the Vietnamese team to block and lock down stars like Hai Long, Van Vi, Quang Hai...

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NGUYEN KHOI

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