Coach Kim has a headache with the U.23 Vietnam attack line.

The U.23 Vietnam team aims to conquer the SEA Games 33 gold medal with a strong attack line that possesses many choices in both expertise and personality.

OVERWHELMING NUMBER

In the list of 28 players participating in the final training session to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games, Coach Kim Sang-sik called up 10 names that can play in the attack line, including: Dinh Bac, Vi Hao, Van Khang, Ngoc My, Van Thuan, Quoc Viet, Thanh Nhan, Le Phat, Le Viktor and Cong Phuong. That is a very impressive number compared to only 7 midfielders and 8 defenders in this call-up list. In fact, this is a rare time that the Korean coach has called up so many strikers, very different from the previous habit when the number of strikers would be equal to or less than midfielders and defenders. This shows that Mr. Kim has a rich number of attacking spearheads in his hands, and at the same time forces the strategist born in 1976 to calculate carefully, because the U.23 Vietnam team will only have 20 slots for positions ranging from defenders to strikers.

U.23 Vietnam's attack line will be re-screened before SEA Games 33

PHOTO: NGOC LINH

An interesting detail is that except for the "rising star" Le Phat, the remaining 9 names have all played, even scored for the U.23 Vietnam team in official tournaments under Mr. Kim Sang-sik and his predecessor Philippe Troussier. Among them, Dinh Bac, Vi Hao, Van Khang have scored in the national team, while Ngoc My, Van Thuan, Le Viktor and Cong Phuong... were given the opportunity to play for the U.23 Vietnam team under Mr. Kim. To be more specific, the center forward position of U.23 Vietnam will be a race between Dinh Bac, Vi Hao, Quoc Viet and the 18-year-old talent Le Phat; and the 6 names Ngoc My, Van Khang, Van Thuan, Thanh Nhan, Le Viktor and Cong Phuong will compete for 2 winger positions. Particularly, the versatile Van Khang can play as a left-back, while Cong Phuong plays well as a central midfielder. It is not an exaggeration to say that each position on the attack line (the striker pair in the 3-5-2 formation or the trident in the 3-4-3) will be very crowded because of fierce competition with at least 3 names of equal quality. Obviously, choosing who and leaving who will not be an easy problem for Mr. Kim.

INTERNAL COMPETITIVE PRESSURE

It is expected that in the next few days, Coach Kim Sang-sik will have to carry out the most difficult task before the tournament, which is to finalize the official list of 23 names for the 33rd SEA Games. It is expected that he will have to say goodbye to 5 players, including at least 2 strikers. Mr. Kim has surprised with a series of unpredictable personnel decisions such as Ngoc Tan and Vi Hao starting in the 2024 AFF Cup, or Xuan Bac replacing Thai Son in the U.23 Vietnam team. Therefore, fans are holding their breath to see whether Vi Hao, Cong Phuong, and Le Phat will cause a surprise at the last minute or not, because looking at the U.23 Vietnam attack, everyone is worthy. Striker Thanh Nhan shared: "At this time, the whole team is still practicing with high intensity to maintain fitness. Each player on the attack line has their own strengths and so do I. I will try to perform well to have a place to play in the U.23 Vietnam shirt. The pressure of internal competition in U.23 Vietnam is always the same. Everyone must try their best so that the coach can choose the best player. We will try to practice and compete to the best of our ability."

Yesterday, November 26, the Cambodian sports delegation decided to withdraw from 8 sports at the 33rd SEA Games, including: judo, karate, silat, petanque, wrestling, wushu, football and sepak takraw, according to the Main Stand (Thailand). Among these 8 sports, Cambodia's absence from football is considered the most surprising as their U.23 team has a huge investment; at the same time, the withdrawal of U.23 Cambodia also leaves Group A with only 2 teams: U.23 Thailand and U.23 East Timor. Siamsports predicts that men's football at the 33rd SEA Games may have to wait for a redraw after the situation suddenly changed.

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Yesterday, November 26, the 33rd SEA Games Organizing Committee officially announced the relocation of Group B of the men's football tournament to Bangkok (Thailand), because Songkhla province is suffering heavy damage due to flooding. It is expected that the U.23 Vietnam team will compete with Laos (December 4) and Malaysia (December 11) at Thammasat Stadium, where the Vietnamese team played the second leg of the AFF Cup 2022 final. This adjustment will definitely affect the preparation plan of the U.23 Vietnam team, with a flight to Bangkok on December 1.

However, striker Thanh Nhan confidently said: "The change of competition venue has a little impact on the preparation of U.23 Vietnam, but not much because the whole team is still working hard every day. Entering the third day of training, I and the whole U.23 Vietnam team have gradually caught up with the intensity. We will try harder. The opponents at SEA Games 33 are all formidable, especially Thailand and Indonesia; but I think U.23 Vietnam's biggest opponent is ourselves. We have to overcome ourselves so that fans can continue to accompany us at this SEA Games."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thay-kim-dau-dau-voi-hang-cong-u23-viet-nam-185251126220435617.htm