Coach Kim Sang-sik affirmed: U23 Vietnam is ready to overcome the semi-final challenge

On the afternoon of July 24, in Indonesia, coach Kim Sang-sik and goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien attended the official press conference before the semi-final match with U23 Philippines, taking place at 4:00 p.m. on July 25.

At the beginning of the press conference, the Korean coach congratulated the entire team after a hard-fought group stage: “First of all, I would like to congratulate the players on the victory that helped the team qualify for the semi-finals. All the players have played very hard and made tireless efforts.”

Mr. Kim Sang-sik emphasized the importance of the knockout round and considered it the biggest challenge that U23 Vietnam needs to overcome if they want to defend their championship title: “We have two more matches ahead, the first is the semi-final match with U23 Philippines. Both upcoming matches are considered the final matches of U23 Vietnam. We must try to prepare well.”

He continued to affirm the team's determination: "I am very happy to be in the semi-finals of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament. We won two matches in the group stage thanks to the efforts of the players, coaching staff and staff. We will try our best on the field and prepare carefully to achieve favorable results."

One of the issues that the press is interested in is the injury situation of center back Ly Duc, who did not participate in the most recent training session. Coach Kim Sang-sik said: "He suffered an ankle injury during the warm-up match against U23 Cambodia. Currently, the possibility of him playing in the semi-finals is still uncertain. We will continue to monitor the situation in today's training session."

Evaluating the opponent U23 Philippines, the Korean coach paid special attention to the counter-attack situations and the danger of the two players on the opposing side: “The strength of U23 Philippines is counter-attack defense. Their two players number 7 and number 20 are very dangerous. The defenders of U23 Vietnam need to concentrate to resolve these situations.”

When asked about the early exit of U23 Malaysia in the group stage, Mr. Kim Sang-sik shared: "U23 Malaysia played well but was unlucky. Currently, all four teams in the semi-finals are of equal strength." Meanwhile, goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien affirmed that the whole team is ready both physically and mentally: "In the past time, the whole team and I have been very focused, with the highest determination to look forward to the two upcoming matches."

The semi-final match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Philippines will take place at 4pm on July 25. This is a key turning point in the journey to defend the championship of U23 Vietnam, where coach Kim Sang-sik and his team need to demonstrate their mettle and superiority at the right time./.