Coach Kim Sang-sik and Vietnamese football's thirst for number 9

The thirst for “number 9” is shaping the way coach Kim Sang-sik builds the Vietnam team: a team rich in speed, good at pressing but lacking a striker who can score regularly. In the last 5 V.League seasons, the Golden Boot title has fallen into the hands of foreign players; and in the 2025/26 season, according to Fstats, in the top 10 strikers, only Nguyen Hoang Duc – a midfielder – is present. That picture explains why Tien Linh is still the number 1 choice for the domestic striker position.

Thirst for number 9: from V.League to Vietnam national team

The tendency to rely on foreign players in scoring goals has made domestic strikers increasingly rare. Young names with good physiques such as Bui Van Binh (Cong An TP.HCM, born in 2003, 1m78 tall) or Nguyen Minh Tam (HAGL, born in 2005, 1m81 tall) are only at the potential level, mainly playing from the bench, so they lack high-intensity collision environments to perfect their finishing skills and occupy space in the penalty area.

Since the time of Cong Vinh, Anh Duc and recently Tien Linh, Vietnamese football has not produced a reliable striker. The AFF Cup 2018 is proof: Coach Park Hang-seo had to recall veteran Anh Duc and he scored the decisive goal in the final against Malaysia. Seven years have passed, but that void remains.

Why Coach Kim had to change his cards

Stemming from a philosophy that emphasizes physicality and tactical discipline, coach Kim Sang-sik needed a true “number 9” to anchor the attacking structure. But without a classic striker at his disposal, he had to adjust the system to be more flexible.

Since taking over, he has gradually shifted to a style of play based on speed and versatility. Players who are good at playing on the wing or moving wide such as Nguyen Quoc Viet, Nguyen Dinh Bac, Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Nguyen Ngoc My or Vo Van Thuan have been rotated to play the highest position. Although not the center forwards, they help the team increase pressing energy, open up more attacking options through acceleration and positional changes.

Bui Vi Hao: efforts to recreate a domestic spearhead

Coach Kim has high hopes for Bui Vi Hao – who used to be the main striker in An Giang’s youth team. Vi Hao possesses speed, technique, good finishing ability and can play both as a center forward and on the wing. However, injuries and the time spent on the wing mean he needs more time to regain his best form, especially his sense of space in the 16m50 area.

Tien Linh, Xuan Son and the fragile attack system

In the national team, Tien Linh is still the number 1 option thanks to his top-level playing experience and finishing instinct. However, to diversify his goal output, Coach Kim is still waiting for Xuan Son – the expected naturalized player – to fully recover. This is the only name that can directly replace Tien Linh’s role in the short term. But when everything depends on one individual, the attacking system is always at risk.

At the U22 level, the problem of domestic strikers continues to be a concern. When the supply of "number 9" is not abundant, changing tactics to optimize the group of players with speed and pressing ability becomes the most feasible direction in the hands of Coach Kim.

Tactical angle: use speed to compensate for the lack of "number 9"

The current landscape has made the value of off-the-ball movement, high pressing and attacking space in behind the opposition defence paramount. With no fixed destination in the box, plays need to be designed to stretch the opposition structure, creating space for a second-line finisher – something the young group can provide with their pace.

However, to solve the long-term problem, V.League needs to give more playing minutes to young strikers like Bui Van Binh or Nguyen Minh Tam. Only when they are trained for a long time at high intensity, they will accumulate the skills of choosing positions, sniffing out opportunities and converting them into scoring efficiency - the decisive quality of a "number 9".

Until a domestic striker with enough courage like the generations of Cong Vinh and Anh Duc appeared, coach Kim Sang-sik will have to live with the "number 9 thirst" - and continue to turn youth, speed and pressing into goals.