Coach Kim Sang-sik goes 'headhunting' for the Vietnam national team again, V-League becomes more exciting

Mr. Kim does not allow himself a long rest.

Coach Kim Sang-sik's vacation ended quickly, the Korean coach returned to Vietnam on the day the 10th round of V-League kicked off on January 17. Mr. Kim Sang-sik did not want to miss any round of the domestic tournament. He had to watch and evaluate all the potential of domestic players before starting the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying campaign.

Vietnam team will soon return to the rotation in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers

Unlike the AFF Cup, which is a centralized tournament that takes place over a month and then ends, the Asian Cup qualifiers last from March 2025 to March 2026. The nature of tournaments that last this long is that the personnel plans of every team must be extremely diverse. The personnel of the teams cannot be limited to a small group of players like in the AFF Cup, but must be expanded with many different faces, in case any player is injured, has a penalty card, or loses form during the Asian Cup qualifiers.

That also means that players who have not had the opportunity to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey at the AFF Cup 2024 will have the opportunity to appear in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers. Before the AFF Cup 2024, names such as midfielder Minh Khoa (Binh Duong Club), Thai Son (Thanh Hoa), right-back Ngo Tung Quoc (Binh Duong), left-back To Van Vu ( Nam Dinh ), left-back Phan Tuan Tai, striker Nham Manh Dung (The Cong Viettel) ... were mentioned quite a lot. Coach Kim Sang-sik could not call them to the Vietnamese national team to participate in the Southeast Asian Championship, due to the limited number of players registered for this tournament.

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However, with the Asian Cup qualifiers, the teams can change their registration list with each match, so the above mentioned faces will have the opportunity to show themselves.

Coach Kim Sang-sik needs a strong enough squad to compete in the extended Asian Cup qualifiers.

In addition, young players who have been expected in domestic football recently such as Van Truong, Van Tung (Hanoi FC), Dinh Bac (Hanoi Police Club), Quoc Viet (Ninh Binh) ... will be tested in the Asian Cup qualifiers. That is not counting the overseas Vietnamese player Jason Quang Vinh, who is likely to be called up to the Vietnam national team, in case he completes the naturalization procedures.

Coach Kim Sang-sik will probably maintain the core of the players such as goalkeeper Nguyen Filip, Nguyen Dinh Trieu, central defenders Thanh Chung, Duy Manh, Bui Tien Dung, midfielders Quang Hai, Hoang Duc, Hai Long, Doan Ngoc Tan, strikers Tien Linh, Tuan Hai, Vi Hao, creating the backbone for the Vietnamese team. This backbone will create stability for the whole team. But besides the core players, besides the core players, coach Kim Sang-sik will add new faces, let the young players try their hand, to meet the different player requirements of the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

These requirements notably include a reasonable distribution of strength for the entire team in a long tournament, spanning 2025 and 2026, while preparing a successor force for major tournaments in the near future of the national team.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-lai-di-san-dau-nguoi-cho-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-v-league-cang-gay-can-185250117145947964.htm