Steadfast like U.23 Vietnam
A ticket to the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals has helped coach Kim Sang-sik's U23 Vietnam team extend their happy days.
Since the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asian Championship, Coach Kim's students have had a series of 7 consecutive wins. U.23 Vietnam has defeated U.23 Laos (3-0), U.23 Cambodia (2-1), U.23 Philippines (2-1), U.23 Indonesia (1-0), U.23 Bangladesh (2-0), U.23 Singapore (1-0) and U.23 Yemen (1-0).
U.23 Vietnam (red shirt) qualified for the 2026 U.23 Asia Championship
PHOTO: MINH TU
7 wins, 12 goals scored, 2 goals conceded, 5 clean sheets. Those are positive statistics for a young team, in a youth football field where there are many unpredictable variables. More specifically, U.23 Vietnam played 7 matches with... 7 different lineups. Coach Kim Sang-sik rotated the lineup, not keeping a fixed frame, but the quality of performance remained stable, showing that Mr. Kim's philosophy has "permeated" into the entire team, instead of just stopping at the pillars.
More importantly, U.23 Vietnam had matches that were not outstanding, but still knew how to win thanks to high concentration and exploiting the opponent's mistakes.
When the attack is not yet complete, the defense becomes a reliable shield, helping U.23 Vietnam certainly not lose.
Penetrating the net of goalkeeper Trung Kien is a difficult problem for many teams, when coach Kim Sang-sik builds a solid, layered and tight defense thanks to tall, competitive and understanding central defenders like Ly Duc and Hieu Minh.
"Victory DNA" is gradually being formed in a group that once faced skepticism.
U.23 Vietnam is getting better with each match
PHOTO: MINH TU
Coach Kim Sang-sik emphasized that this is the "golden" time to prepare for SEA Games 33, when he has a basic idea of human quality (after 2 tournaments), the ability to respond to playing style and the players' mettle.
Ambition at SEA Games
The next challenge for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will continue in Southeast Asia, where opponents such as U.23 Thailand, U.23 Malaysia or U.23 Indonesia are all on a downward trend.
U.23 Thailand had to wait until Kakana's 90+2 minute goal to beat U.23 Malaysia, thereby winning a "suffocating" ticket to the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship.
The young team of the Golden Temple country still maintains the philosophy of controlling play, passing the ball short and short throughout the lines. However, compared to the golden age of 2013 - 2017, Thailand's young talents are no longer as special as the generation of Chanathip Songkrasin, Theerathon Bunmathan.
The controlled and smooth attacking style of U.23 Thailand no longer makes Southeast Asia wary. While opponents like Indonesia, Malaysia or Vietnam continuously improve their physical quality and defensive discipline, the young Thai team does not change too much.
Still using the same old playing style and philosophy, U.23 Thailand has not won the SEA Games for 8 consecutive years, not won the U.23 Southeast Asia title, and has often "fallen off the horse" in the U.23 Asia group stage (only in 2020 did U.23 Thailand reach the quarterfinals). At the U.23 Southeast Asia 2025 tournament, U.23 Thailand lost to U.23 Indonesia in the semi-finals on penalties.
U.23 Indonesia (white shirt) and U.23 Thailand both went downhill.
PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG
U.23 Malaysia has also declined, the most recent evidence being the fact that the Malaysian team had to import a series of players with European and American bloodlines to play in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. The young generation of Malaysia has seriously declined, no longer providing good players for the national team.
After 3 matches of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifying round, U23 Malaysia only has... 3 points, even less than U23 Cambodia, the team that won 5 points in the "death group" with U23 Iraq and U23 Oman.
U.23 Indonesia is the reigning SEA Games champion, but the fall in the final of the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship against U.23 Vietnam brought the team from the archipelago back to earth. In the 2026 Asian U.23 Championship qualifiers, U.23 Indonesia stopped, including a disappointing 0-0 draw with U.23 Laos.
Indonesian youth football has fallen behind since the miracle of reaching the semi-finals of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship. Young talents like Jens Raven and Rafael Struick have failed to show any signs of improvement under the guidance of coach Gerald Vanenburg, who is likely to be fired before the SEA Games.
Despite good training, Indonesian youth football lacks discipline and direction. Like U.23 Malaysia, U.23 Indonesia players have also lost their place in the national team because of the proliferation of naturalized players.
Therefore, U.23 Vietnam is still the leading candidate for the SEA Games 33 gold medal. The rest is just whether Mr. Kim and his team can surpass themselves or not.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-viet-nam-se-cuc-hay-o-sea-games-33-sang-cua-doat-hcv-18525091111081384.htm
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