Vietnam National Team: Overloaded pillars, what should coach Kim Sang Sik do?

The Vietnamese team has continuously adjusted its training program in the context of many key players being overloaded before the match with Malaysia, the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.

The Vietnam team entered the third training session in Hanoi to prepare for the crucial match against Malaysia. Coach Kim Sang Sik received some bad news about the health of many players.

Cong Phuong has a sore foot, while Duc Chien and Dinh Trieu have signs of muscle strain. All are required to rest at the hotel to avoid the risk of serious injury.

In addition, Tien Linh, Thanh Chung, and Quang Hai are not in the best physical condition due to constantly playing for their clubs.

Cong Phuong had to stop after only one session of practice. Photo: SN

Previously, coach Kim Sang Sik was forced to make changes to the Vietnam team's roster due to injuries to some of the players he planned to use. The Korean strategist had to leave out Vu Van Thanh and Nguyen Van Toan, then continued to be unable to call up defenders Nguyen Thanh Binh and Bui Hoang Viet Anh for the same reason.

Dang Van Toi ( Hai Phong ) and Pham Ly Duc (HAGL) were added to the Vietnam team's roster, but this is not an option that coach Kim Sang Sik is confident in because both lack international competition experience.

The overload problem also occurred with the group of players of CAHN and Binh Duong: Nguyen Filip, Quang Vinh, Quang Hai, Minh Khoa, Tien Linh only gathered and had their first training session on June 1 after finishing the make-up match of round 23 of LPBank V-League 2024/25.

In the first two training sessions, the number of Vietnamese players did not exceed 15, meaning 8 players were absent, accounting for more than 1/3 of the total team list in this training session. Coach Kim Sang Sik even had to call young goalkeeper Van Binh from the U22 Vietnam team to be able to split the team into two to practice the confrontation.

Coach Kim Sang Sik is most worried about injuries in the Vietnam team. Photo: SN

In preparation for the crucial match against Malaysia, coach Kim Sang Sik has called up 23 players, and if nothing changes, this will be the squad that will travel to Kuala Lumpur on June 6. Mr. Kim's early "framing" of the team's list aims to quickly stabilize the squad and playing style, but once an injury or non-professional problem occurs, it will be a difficult problem to solve in the context of the match against Malaysia approaching.

That is the reason why coach Kim Sang Sik, on the one hand, arranges 2 training sessions/day with the Vietnamese team (morning physical training, afternoon tactical training), and at the same time, always closely monitors health conditions to make timely adjustments. Any injury, no matter how minor, is given a rest by the Korean coach.

Hopefully, the Vietnamese team will have a full squad and be in the best form, otherwise the upcoming away match against Malaysia will become even more challenging.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tru-cot-tuyen-viet-nam-qua-tai-hlv-kim-sang-sik-tinh-sao-2407022.html