HAGL star returns, competition in U.23 Vietnam begins to become more fierce

U.23 Vietnam continues to practice tactics

At Ba Ria Stadium, the U.23 Vietnam team continued to divide into teams to play against each other. This time, coach Kim Sang-sik decided to sit in the stands to be able to see the whole scene instead of standing directly on the field to demonstrate like the practice session on July 1.

Today, the U.23 Vietnam team officially practiced with all 36 players when Nguyen Dang Duong was present after a training trip in Africa with the Viettel The Cong youth team. The SLNA players who just competed in the National Cup final, including Dinh Xuan Tien, Ho Van Cuong, and Nguyen Quang Vinh, also entered tactical practice. Tran Trung Kien, who is expected to be the main goalkeeper for the U.23 Vietnam team in the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship, also returned. Before that, he and Khuat Van Khang practiced with a fitness expert.

Sao HAGL trở lại, cuộc cạnh tranh ở U.23 Việt Nam bắt đầu khốc liệt hơn- Ảnh 1. — HAGL's Trung Kien returns

Sao HAGL trở lại, cuộc cạnh tranh ở U.23 Việt Nam bắt đầu khốc liệt hơn- Ảnh 2. — Dang Duong also appeared, had his first training session with the Vietnam U.23 team.

Sao HAGL trở lại, cuộc cạnh tranh ở U.23 Việt Nam bắt đầu khốc liệt hơn- Ảnh 3. — Ho Van Cuong (number 6) and SLNA players are very determined

Sao HAGL trở lại, cuộc cạnh tranh ở U.23 Việt Nam bắt đầu khốc liệt hơn- Ảnh 4. — In the stands, coach Kim Sang-sik was a bit pensive.

Thus, the competition for positions in the Vietnam U.23 team has become more intense. 36 players are practicing, but the list of players flying to Indonesia has only 23 people. The players are forced to try their best in every move and every move to catch the eye of coach Kim Sang-sik. The tension is partly reflected in the amount of time reporters are allowed to work. In the practice session on July 1, reporters were allowed to work for a full hour, but today they only had 15 minutes.

Coach Kim Sang-sik is cautious with two key players.

During this training session, a group of players such as Van Truong, Phi Hoang, Quoc Viet... practiced light recovery exercises. It is very likely that this group played a lot in the practice match with the U.23 Taiwan team on the afternoon of July 2nd, so they needed to rest.

In addition, the two key players who are training separately with fitness coach Cedric Rogers are Khuat Van Khang and Nguyen Dinh Bac. In fact, this duo does not have any serious problems. Van Khang is a bit overloaded after a season of hard work with Viettel The Cong Club, and Dinh Bac has just returned from injury. Therefore, coach Kim Sang-sik wants them to rest a lot to reach their peak performance when entering the official tournament. Van Khang and Dinh Bac are both experienced players and can make a difference.

On the afternoon of July 4, the U.23 Vietnam team continued to have a closed practice match with the U.23 Taiwan team. In the previous match, coach Kim Sang-sik's students won 5-0.