Focus on SEA Games and U23 Asian Cup

With a ticket to the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, coach Kim Sang Sik's focus seems to be shifting to the goals for the Vietnam U23 team with the continental tournament and the 33rd SEA Games held in Thailand.

The Korean strategist's focus on the two upcoming tournaments (taking place in December and January 2026) is considered reasonable because the goal of winning back the gold medal at the SEA Games is always the top priority.

W-kim sang sik 1.jpg
Coach Kim Sang Sik probably prioritizes goals at the SEA Games or the U23 Asian Cup.

Besides, the fact that U23 Vietnam will be present at the AFC U23 Championship for the sixth consecutive time in early 2026 in Saudi Arabia also requires careful preparation to create surprises.

And to complete the set goal, Mr. Kim Sang Sik will make full use of the upcoming FIFA Days (October-November) which are used to gather the Vietnamese team to train the U23 Vietnam squad as just witnessed.

How will Vietnam team be?

The above strategy, from the performance perspective, is somewhat reasonable in the context that the Vietnamese team does not have many opportunities left in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, due to the disadvantage in personnel and performance compared to the opponents in the same group. Therefore, focusing resources on U23 Vietnam, where the opportunity to win the title is clearer, is obviously a calculation of "choosing the battle".

However, top football cannot only think short-term, the Vietnamese team is still the representative image of the entire football industry, so coach Kim Sang Sik still needs to closely monitor instead of focusing on the upcoming "battles" of U23 Vietnam.

tuyen viet nam canh 8.jpg
And this means that the Vietnamese team will hardly receive the greatest concentration from coach Kim Sang Sik.

It is even more worth discussing when the Vietnamese team needs to find itself again, as well as build up its strength to hold on to the fragile hope in the Asian Cup qualifiers.

In the situation of "single mother with two children", coach Kim Sang Sik has to calculate a lot to ensure success, but it is clearly not easy when there is too much work to do for both teams.

It can be seen that the captain must devote all his efforts to U23 Vietnam in the coming period, but he must also have a solution to not 'neglect' the Vietnamese team. However, this will not be an easy problem for coach Kim Sang Sik. Hopefully, in difficult times, there is a good thing and he continues to have a good hand with Vietnamese football.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/u23-viet-nam-duoc-thay-sik-uu-ai-tuyen-viet-nam-se-the-nao-2441677.html