U22 Vietnam: Coach Kim Sang Sik continues to deliver, making the difficult suddenly easy

U22 Vietnam benefited when U22 Indonesia failed in the opening match of SEA Games 33. The semi-final ticket is within reach of coach Kim Sang Sik and his team, but to go further, they will need to be different.

From a difficult position

At the end of the opening match of SEA Games 33, U22 Vietnam, despite having all 3 points, entered a precarious situation. The victory over U22 Laos did not bring much peace of mind, from the playing style to the attacking efficiency. More importantly, the goal difference of coach Kim Sang Sik and his team was still lower than Malaysia - the team that had a more impressive opening match.

With SEA Games 33 having only 9 teams divided into 3 groups and 4 teams entering the semi-finals, to secure a spot, U22 Vietnam must play a "life or death" match with Malaysia in the match taking place on December 11.

U22 Vietnam has not shown any impressive results in the victory against U22 Laos.

However, looking back at the performance against U22 Laos, that task is not simple. U22 Vietnam attacked a lot but was more stuck, shot a lot but had very low efficiency, and more importantly, lacked sharp attacking options. If they continue to repeat the monotonous playing style, relying heavily on the wing and individual plays, the risk of losing points against Malaysia is entirely possible.

To the task lightly

But just when the pressure was tightening, luck once again stood on the side of coach Kim Sang Sik and his team. In group C, U22 Philippines unexpectedly defeated U22 Indonesia and quickly won a ticket to the semi-finals with 6 absolute points.

This unintentionally opens a brighter door for U22 Vietnam. Because the second team in Group C has only 3 points at most - equal to U22 Vietnam at the time when they have not met Malaysia. That means: as long as they do not lose, even lose slightly in the last match, Coach Kim Sang Sik's team still has a chance to become 1 of the 4 teams in the semi-finals.

But the opportunity to win a ticket to the semi-finals for coach Kim Sang Sik and his team suddenly opened up thanks to the results in Group C.

A task that was once considered precarious, suddenly became much easier. And once again, fans were surprised by Mr. Kim's familiar "good luck", which has followed the Korean strategist from the journey with the Vietnamese team to win the ASEAN Cup to the recent important victories at the U23 level.

But the glory will fade, if U22 Vietnam wants to go far in the SEA Games, it probably needs more than luck. The team's playing style needs to be diverse, processing speed and especially, the mentality needs to be stronger.

Because the semi-final will not be like the group stage: better-organized teams from Thailand, the Philippines... will not give Mr. Kim and his team many opportunities to make amends if they continue to perform like in the opening match against U22 Laos.

U22 Vietnam is benefiting from a different group situation, but the journey ahead is certainly not for teams that just rely on luck. Coach Kim Sang Sik's team will need to be different if they want to win the SEA Games 33 gold medal.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/u22-viet-nam-hlv-kim-sang-sik-tiep-van-son-kho-bong-hoa-de-2470627.html