Screening new factors in the Vietnam U.23 team

Coach Kim Sang-sik will begin screening the U.23 Vietnam squad, before finalizing the official list of 23 names to participate in the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament.

MR. NG K IM DIRECTLY SEARCHES FOR ROUGH GEM

The U.23 Vietnam team had two behind-closed-doors matches against the U.23 Taiwan team at Ba Ria Stadium, as a screening round to help coach Kim Sang-sik make an important assessment before finalizing the roster. In the return match on July 4, the Korean coach used almost all the names that had not played in the first match. Thanks to that, Mr. Kim could have an intuitive view of the ability, strengths and weaknesses, personality and playing psychology of each player. The two matches against U.23 Taiwan (won 5-0 and won 2-1) were of great significance for coach Kim Sang-sik to personally screen the "rough gems" in his first time directly taking charge of the U.23 Vietnam team (previously assigned to assistant Dinh Hong Vinh temporarily).

The U.23 Vietnam team will soon reduce its squad to 28 people.

Photo: Nguyen Khang

Mr. Kim will spend a lot of time with the Vietnam U.23 team in the next 6 extremely important months, with the Southeast Asian U.23 tournament (from July 15 to 29), the 2026 Asian U.23 qualifying round (from September 3 to 9), the 33rd SEA Games in December and the final round of the Asian U.23 tournament taking place in January 2026.

In fact, the coaching staff of the U.23 Vietnam team has a clear understanding of Van Khang, Van Truong, Quoc Viet, Thai Son, Van Cuong, Thanh Nhan, Trung Kien, Ly Duc, Le Viktor... in the Vietnam team. The focus of the coaching staff will be to accurately assess the abilities of new factors such as Vietnamese-American striker Bui Alex, new players or players who were not focused on before such as Dinh Hai, Van Thuan, Minh Phuc, Quang Kiet, Anh Quan, Le Phat... Everything will gradually become clear when coach Kim Sang-sik soon says goodbye to 8 players, reducing the number of U.23 Vietnam team from 36 to 28 people to maintain training. Before leaving for Indonesia on July 14, Mr. Kim will finalize the list of 23 names to officially compete in the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asian tournament, where we will defend the championship that we have won twice in a row before.

LEADER IN EACH POSITION

The U.23 Vietnam team has very young names such as Nguyen Dang Duong (2005), Le Dinh Long Vu (2006) and possesses mysterious factors compared to opponents such as Ngoc My, Alex Bui... But basically, Mr. Kim will build a playing style based on the existing competitive framework with Trung Kien competing with Van Binh in goal and central defenders Ly Duc, Duc Anh, Van Cuong... competing with Nhat Minh, Hieu Minh, Quang Kiet... in defense. Thai Son will be the anchor to lead the ball and control the midfield with Van Truong. The competition in the midfield area is very high with many bright candidates such as Xuan Tien, Cong Phuong, Duc Viet, Van Thuan, Xuan Bac... However, the fiercest competition is in the attack line, with many quality names: Dinh Bac, Quoc Viet, Van Khang, Thanh Nhan, Long Vu, Ngoc My and Bui Alex... which can bring a pleasant "headache" to Mr. Kim.

The final formula of the Korean coach will most likely be to find leaders in each position, at the same time creating positive competition to expand opportunities for new factors. Frankly speaking, Mr. Kim will be very pleased if the U.23 Vietnam team arrives in Indonesia with more than 3 new factors to surprise the opponent and rest their heads for the future.

The important U.23 Southeast Asian tournament will also be a stepping stone for two strategic goals: the 33rd SEA Games and the U.23 Asian tournament. In the context of Southeast Asian countries, especially Indonesia and Malaysia, "arms race" with naturalized players, the U.23 Vietnam team's focus on hunting for new players is also an approach to create a more diverse input source for the Vietnamese team. From that perspective, the U.23 Vietnam team will aim for the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament with the dual mission of having good results and performances on the field while constantly screening to renew itself. It will not be surprising if Mr. Kim tests new players in the first two matches against U.23 Laos (July 19) and U.23 Cambodia (July 22) to wait to show all his cards in the knockout round afterwards.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/sang-loc-nhan-to-moi-o-doi-tuyen-u23-viet-nam-185250705235601473.htm