Vietnam team wins to hope

The chance for Vietnam to participate in the 2027 Asian Cup finals is extremely slim after losing 0-4 away to direct competitor Malaysia. But in football or in life, as long as there is hope, there is still fighting. The Vietnam team needs to play well in the 2 matches against Nepal before thinking about the rematch against Malaysia in March 2026.

Vietnam team has difficulty with human resources

The 0-4 defeat to Malaysia was truly painful, but when the emotions subsided, we saw that it was a true defeat. Even at this moment, if we meet this opponent again, the Vietnamese team may still lose. Malaysia has chosen a policy of massive naturalization, with extremely powerful factors such as Joao Figueiredo, whose transfer value was up to 1 million euros (nearly 27 billion VND) or Rodrigo Holgado, whose price is 775,000 euros. In addition, the Malaysian Football Federation is still looking to naturalize more quality players to not only rise to the top of Southeast Asia but also strive to achieve the goal of participating in the World Cup.

What about us? Coach Kim Sang-sik's difficulty is that he wants to strengthen the team, but he doesn't know how to add more players. Nguyen Xuan Son is still recovering from an injury. Cao Pendant Quang Vinh has been called up to the team, but when facing an opponent with a superior "foreign" force like Malaysia, this Vietnamese-American player who is playing for the Hanoi Police Club has not left many strong impressions. Players who are being given conditions to be naturalized, such as Hendrio, Geovane, and Janclesio, don't know when they will be eligible to play. These are all quality players and are certainly capable of raising the team. However, the naturalization process still has to go through many stages related to legal procedures, everything is beyond the control of the coaching staff. An important component is the team of Vietnamese-American players returning to play in the V-League, which also has its own problems. Le Viktor is not qualified enough to wear the national team jersey, Kevin Pham Ba or Kyle Colonna are not legally qualified. There are exceptional cases like Tran Thanh Trung who are still in the process of integration and trying to show their abilities.

The Vietnamese team (left) will have to make every effort to achieve positive results in the coming time.

PHOTO: NGOC LINH

V ROCK AND FINISH

In that context, coach Kim Sang-sik and his colleagues had no choice but to let the Vietnamese team continue to maintain training and play friendly matches in short training sessions. Of course, Mr. Kim is still in the process of "headhunting" in domestic professional football tournaments. Finding new elements to supplement the team is extremely important. Unfortunately, in the most recent training session, when coach Kim Sang-sik was busy leading the youth team to participate in the U.23 Asian qualifiers, the Vietnamese team led by interim coach Dinh Hong Vinh only had 2 friendly matches with "blue team" which were 2 domestic clubs. Some cases reported pain and did not join the team but were ready to play in friendly matches at the same time. The two friendly matches (the team lost 1 match, won 1 match) cannot be considered perfect preparation because coach Kim Sang-sik himself did not "teach the class".

It is understandable that Mr. Kim has to shoulder too much pressure and responsibility. He has done an excellent job with the youth team when leading the U.23 Vietnam team to the championship at the U.23 Southeast Asia tournament and deservedly won the top spot in the U.23 Asia qualifying round at home. But remember that the face of Vietnamese football must be the national team and the team's achievements are what fans care about most. Hopefully, after the successes with U.23 Vietnam, Coach Kim Sang-sik will have specific and suitable plans for the Vietnamese team. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will regroup at FIFA Days in early October. There may be some changes in the team's personnel, even in some positions there are expected to be changes. All changes are expected to bring positive changes to the team.

A big advantage objectively is that in the two matches against Nepal (first leg on October 9, second leg on October 14), the Vietnamese team will play at home due to the big changes in the host country. Winning the remaining three matches against Nepal and Laos (Vietnam won the first leg) will help the team have a confident mindset before meeting Malaysia again.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-thang-de-hy-vong-185250916001035478.htm