From hope...

Among the bright faces of Vietnamese youth football in recent years, Nguyen Quoc Viet has always been the most mentioned name, not only at the youth level but also expected to play the role of a key striker for the World Team in the future.

The striker from Hai Phong possesses valuable qualities of a modern striker: stable physique, good shooting power, along with the ability to move intelligently and finish in a variety of ways.

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Quoc Viet was once the hope of the U23 Vietnam attack.

More importantly, Quoc Viet has accumulated a lot of international experience through a series of large and small tournaments at youth level ranging from U19 to U23 in recent years.

Under previous coaches, this striker played very consistently, bringing home many victories and contributing to a series of titles for the national youth teams.

...to the disappointment of keeping Mr. Kim waiting

However, since coach Kim Sang Sik took over the hot seat of Vietnamese football, Quoc Viet's performance has shown signs of fading and instability. This was clearly shown from the U23 Southeast Asian tournament, most recently the U23 Asian qualifiers.

Typically, in the U23 Asian qualifiers, the striker currently playing for Ninh Binh Club started in the match against U23 Yemen but caused disappointment, forcing coach Kim Sang Sik to replace him before the end of the first half.

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But it was only after disappointing tournaments in the U23 Vietnam shirt that this striker showed he was making a comeback.

And even when he was substituted into the field against U23 Bangladesh, Quoc Viet did not leave an impression, forcing coach Kim Sang Sik to "keep" this striker on the bench in the second match against U23 Singapore.

There is a feeling that the striker who was once the great hope of Vietnamese football is losing his scoring instinct and inherent confidence as well as being lost in the new system, lacking connection with teammates and no longer able to maintain his coolness in the final shots.

In the context that U22 Vietnam is lacking a truly quality and reliable striker, it is inevitable that coach Kim Sang Sik is looking for Quoc Viet's return.

A quite positive signal was that in the 2 matches against U23 Qatar (friendly) and in the victory over Hanoi FC in V-League, Quoc Viet also scored, even very beautifully in the home team's victory right in front of Mr. Kim Sang Sik.

Coach Kim Sang Sik is in dire need of Quoc Viet to find himself again, regain his confidence and killer instinct. It is not just a simple addition of an individual, but also the missing piece to complete the U22 Vietnam attack to conquer the tournaments ahead.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/u22-viet-nam-hlv-kim-sang-sik-can-lam-su-tro-lai-cua-mot-cai-ten-2459762.html