FIFA Days November: Will Mr. Kim choose U22 or the national team?

Both the U22 team and the Vietnam national team will have important training sessions during FIFA Days this coming November. Which team will coach Kim Sang Sik choose to lead to ensure the best results for Vietnamese football?

The Vietnamese team still needs to focus on the match with Laos to ensure the goal of winning a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup finals.

The Vietnam U22 team will participate in the high-quality 2025 International Friendly Tournament in China to finalize the squad before conquering the SEA Games 33 gold medal.

At the same time, the Vietnamese team also needs to win away to Laos in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup to secure a ticket to the final round.

U22 Vietnam needs Mr. Kim

Since coming to Vietnamese football in May 2024, Coach Kim Sang Sik has only led the Vietnam U22 team once in the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers last September at Viet Tri Stadium ( Phu Tho ). Most of the time, the coach spends time with the Vietnam team and hands over the head coach position of the U22 team to assistant Dinh Hong Vinh.

And now, as the 33rd SEA Games approaches, Coach Kim Sang Sik must spend more time with the Vietnam U22 team. Specifically, in the final training session in November to perfect the squad and tactics for the young players, thereby achieving the goal of winning gold medals in Thailand at the end of this year.

Because despite winning the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship and qualifying for the 2026 Asian U23 Finals, the U22 Vietnam team still had difficult victories against weak opponents and revealed many limitations. The most worrying thing is the strikers' ability to finish and convert chances into goals, despite creating many opportunities. If U22 Vietnam cannot improve, opponents will fully exploit this weakness at the 33rd SEA Games in order to win.

Therefore, three matches with very strong opponents at the International Friendly Tournament in November are a valuable opportunity for coach Kim Sang Sik to adjust and perfect the U22 Vietnam team.

Coach Kim Sang Sik has a difficult decision to make in November.

Mr. Kim's difficulty

According to the scheduled match schedule, the U22 Vietnam team will meet U23 Korea (November 12), U23 Uzbekistan (November 15) and U23 China (November 18) in the International Friendly Tournament. Meanwhile, the Vietnam team will have an away match in Laos in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup on November 19. This means that Mr. Kim will hardly be able to spend time leading both teams and will have to choose one.

The Vietnam U22 team, under the leadership of acting head coach Dinh Hong Vinh, recently had a training trip to the UAE during FIFA Days in October. Despite the absence of 8 key players who were busy training with the Vietnam team to prepare for the two matches against Nepal in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup, the Vietnam U22 team still played well in the two friendly matches, losing to U23 Qatar 0-1 and 2-3. In November, Mr. Dinh Hong Vinh said that coach Kim Sang Sik might directly lead the U22 team.

"If coach Kim Sang Sik directly leads the U22 Vietnam team in November, he will have a good assessment and preparation for the 33rd SEA Games and the 2026 U23 Asian Cup finals. If he chooses like that, Mr. Kim can arrange to choose an assistant to be the acting head coach of the Vietnam team for the match against Laos. But I am not sure what Mr. Kim will decide, because we have not discussed it with each other in the coaching staff," said Mr. Dinh Hong Vinh.

However, it is likely that coach Kim Sang Sik will choose to lead the Vietnamese team. Because although Laos is considered weaker (the Vietnamese team won 5-0 in the first leg in Binh Duong ), Mr. Kim cannot be subjective in the penultimate match of the group stage.

Before the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) decides whether or not to penalize Malaysia, the top team, for cheating in using naturalized players, for losing to Vietnam and Nepal, the Vietnamese team still needs to beat Laos to maintain the race for a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup finals.

Tuoi Tre confirmed the information. "The national team is still the most important. So Mr. Dinh Hong Vinh will continue to lead the Vietnam U22 team to compete in the International Friendly Tournament in China. Mr. Kim's absence in China is not a big problem, because after the Vietnam U22 team returns, the team will be reassembled before attending the SEA Games. Mr. Kim and Mr. Vinh have worked and exchanged information about the Vietnam U22 team for a long time, so it will not be a problem," the source said.

Back to topic

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/fifa-days-thang-11-ong-kim-chon-u22-hay-tuyen-quoc-gia-20251021105134313.htm