Coach Kim Sang-sik affirms talent

The Vietnam U23 team reached the final of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship with the support of a squad of experienced players playing in the V-League. However, coach Kim Sang-sik is still the one who left a strong impression.

FLEXIBLE TO CHANGE

Compared to the long training period in Ba Ria Ward (HCMC), the U.23 Vietnam team has some differences in Indonesia. Instead of operating with a 3-4-3 formation, coach Kim Sang-sik let his students play 3-5-2. The Korean strategist wanted to increase the ability to control the ball in the midfield area, thereby creating more scoring opportunities. This decision was made after the U.23 Vietnam team had about 15 minutes of ineffective play in the opening match against the U.23 Laos team. From this point on, the young "Golden Star Warriors" held the ball more and attacked more strongly. Thanks to that, the U.23 Vietnam team has the most shots in the tournament. Coach Garrath McPherson of the U.23 Philippines team also admitted that the U.23 Vietnam team has the ability to control the ball better than the U.23 Indonesia team.

Coach Kim Sang-sik left a strong impression in choosing tactics and personnel.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

Next, Coach Kim Sang-sik showed his ability to read the game well. He often made early substitutions and brought about results. In the match against Laos U.23 team, Anh Quan and Quoc Viet did not play well on the right wing, so the Vietnam U.23 team mainly attacked on the left wing. These two players were immediately withdrawn after the first half, giving way to Minh Phuc and Viktor Le. The Vietnam U.23 team then played more evenly. In the match against Cambodia U.23 team, two players entered the field in the 66th minute, Dinh Bac and Thanh Dat, who combined to score the winning goal 2-1.

In the semi-final match against the U.23 Philippines, coach Kim Sang-sik let key players like Van Khang and Dinh Bac rest from the middle of the second half. At this time, based on the actual situation, the Korean strategist let his players return to the 3-4-3 formation and the U.23 Vietnam team still maintained great pressure, but unfortunately they could not score more goals because the players' finishing was not sharp. Also in the semi-final match, he made a very good adjustment by pushing Ly Duc to play right center back and putting Hieu Minh in to play center back. He clearly understood that the U.23 Philippines team mainly depended on left winger Javier Mariona, so he let a more experienced, skilled player who was good at one-on-one combat than Ly Duc play on the right. As a result, Mariona was almost unable to show his strengths. The goal that this player scored only came from a moment of indecision from the U.23 Vietnam team's defense.

Coach Kim Sang-sik and n UNEXPECTED DECISIONS

Ahead of the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asian Championship, coach Kim Sang-sik’s personnel decisions have caused heated controversy. A series of experienced players such as Ho Van Cuong, Dinh Xuan Tien, Nguyen Quang Vinh, Le Dinh Long Vu… were eliminated from the final list. But up to this point, the captain of the U.23 Vietnam team has shown that he is doing the right thing. On the right wing, Anh Quan plays better with each match.

When the tournament took place, Coach Kim continued to leave his mark in the personnel selection process. At this time, the number 1 defensive midfielder of the U.23 Vietnam team was Xuan Bac, not Thai Son, who had been called up to the Vietnam team and had outstanding playing experience. Xuan Bac not only did a good job of blocking but also supported the attack extremely effectively. He scored against the U.23 Philippines team and made many dangerous finishing situations thanks to his ability to readily penetrate the penalty area, something rarely seen in Thai Son. Cong Phuong, a young central midfielder (born in 2006) was on the field from the start in the semi-final match, playing as a striker with Dinh Bac despite previously being a reserve. The player of The Cong Viettel Club played very well, kept the ball, managed to escape the pressure well, created many opportunities for his teammates and had a header that hit the post.

It can be seen that coach Kim Sang-sik is very flexible in the use of personnel and tactics. Depending on the opponent and the time, he will come up with different plans. It is very likely that he will continue to make surprising decisions to make the U.23 Indonesia team unable to react in the final match.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-khang-dinh-tai-nang-18525072619532389.htm