Coach Kim Sang-sik called up Xuan Son for the November session
Coach Kim Sang-sik summoned Nguyen Xuan Son in November to check his physical condition and plan his firepower. He rested for nearly a year and scored 7 goals at the AFF Cup 2024.
The decision to call up Nguyen Xuan Son for the November training session was a strategic move by coach Kim Sang-sik: to call him up to the national team to directly observe his recovery process, not to use him immediately. After nearly a year away from the field due to an injury in the second leg of the 2024 AFF Cup final, the striker considered the most comprehensive striker in Vietnamese football has returned and needs a cautious roadmap.
Coach Kim Sang-sik's plan: call to check, not rush to use
Over the past 10 months, Xuan Son’s journey has been mainly about rehabilitation, therapy, and then gradually returning to off-ball exercises before touching the ball again in Nam Dinh’s colors. He had a final test in the friendly match between Nam Dinh and PVF-CAND Youth in October, but his touches, receiving, and passing still need time to regain his fluidity.
Despite being the best player of the 2024 AFF Cup with 7 goals, the current physical condition and playing feeling of the 28-year-old striker is unlikely to reach the team's general level after a long break. Therefore, coach Kim Sang-sik has a good reason to call him up: through training sessions and lesson plans, the coaching staff can directly assess the level of response - a method that coach Park Hang-seo has applied to players returning from injury.
On the other hand, the November training session only has one match against Laos. This is the right time for Coach Kim to reserve a slot to test and build a detailed return roadmap for Xuan Son, instead of pushing him into the competition early.
The value of a world-class center forward with firepower for the Vietnamese team
The favoritism for Xuan Son comes from the value he brings. He is a striker with strength, physicality, the ability to compete in one-on-one situations and effectively convert opportunities - exactly what the team is lacking. Since Xuan Son's absence, the scoring efficiency of the Vietnamese team has clearly decreased even though coach Kim has tried many options, from strikers at their peak like Tien Linh, Gia Hung to young talents like Dinh Bac, but there has not been a worthy replacement.
At the peak of his form, Xuan Son helped the team shorten many steps in the attack. The Brazilian striker only needed one pass to make a difference. His ability to handle situations on his own made the opponent always have to arrange someone to follow him closely, thereby opening up space for his teammates.
Cautious roadmap to March 2026
The realistic goal is that the Vietnamese team can have Xuan Son at his best in March 2026, when he returns to play regularly for Nam Dinh and has about 5 more months to accumulate ball feel. From now until then, coach Kim Sang-sik is likely to use him cautiously, step by step and in a controlled manner, avoiding the risk of re-injury due to returning too early or playing through pain.
Meaning of the November training session
With only one match against Laos in this training camp, the coaching staff's top priority is to observe Xuan Son's body reaction and recovery progress through each training session. All to serve the long-term goal: to bring him back at the right time, in the best condition.
Xuan Son is a valuable asset of Vietnamese football. When the Nam Dinh striker returns to his best form, coach Kim Sang-sik’s team has the basis to restore its inherent firepower and become more unpredictable in its approach to the opponent’s goal.
