Coach Kim Sang Sik, AFF Cup and unexpected good news from V-League
The AFF Cup has been postponed, the Vietnam National Team will not gather during FIFA Days in November and the V-League will still take place, so coach Kim Sang Sik and his players will have 16 more days to prepare for the region's number 1 tournament.
A few days ago, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) as well as other Football Federations in Southeast Asia received information that the match schedule of the AFF Cup 2024 will be adjusted.
Accordingly, instead of taking place from November 23 to December 21, 2024 as previously planned, the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup, commonly known as the AFF Cup, will be postponed to start on December 9, 2024, ending with the final match on January 5, 2025.
Almost immediately, VFF and Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) agreed on the operational plan of the Vietnam National Team, along with the operation of V-League, the number 1 football tournament in the country.
The Vietnamese team will still gather and compete in FIFA Days in September and October, and coach Kim Sang Sik and his team will have four international friendly matches before the 2024 AFF Cup takes place, including Thailand, Russia, India and Lebanon.
The plan to gather for about 10 days during FIFA Days in November as planned will not take place and during this time the V-League rounds will continue, specifically until after round 8, the number 1 tournament in Vietnam will be temporarily suspended so that the team can prepare for the AFF Cup.
At this time, what the public and Vietnamese football fans are interested in is whether the appearance of the national team under the guidance of coach Kim Sang Sik will change much compared to the last gathering in June, when the new V-League season will not officially begin until September 14.
Of course, there will be changes and Coach Kim Sang Sik as well as VFF leaders hope that the two training sessions during FIFA Days in September and October will be the conditions for the Vietnam National Team to have the best possible preparation, stabilizing the squad and playing style for the AFF Cup at the end of the year.
Although at the beginning of August as it is now, VFF has not yet finalized all the opponents of the Vietnam National Team in the two upcoming training sessions and friendly matches, the matches with Thailand, Russia or Panama in September or India and Lebanon in October will be useful tests, the best "trial by fire" opportunities for Coach Kim Sang Sik's team to upgrade and renew themselves.
Adjusting the V-League schedule to follow the AFF Cup has balanced the interests of the club and the national team, and the players have also avoided a gap in training, which is good news for coach Kim Sang Sik.
Of course, he himself fully understands that there is still a lot of work to do for the Vietnam National Team to be able to realize the goal of reaching the final of the AFF Cup 2024 and further, dreaming of the championship that Vietnamese football achieved in 2008 and 2018./.
