Coach Kim Sang-sik apologizes to Vietnamese fans

On the evening of June 10, the Vietnamese team traveled to the "fire pan" of Bukit Jalil to face host Malaysia in the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup. Despite playing with great determination, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team still lost heavily with a score of 4-0 in this match.

After the match, coach Kim Sang-sik expressed his regret and apologized to the fans: "First of all, as the head coach of the whole team, I feel sorry for the Vietnamese fans who traveled a long way to watch the team compete in Malaysia, as well as all the fans who are watching the match on television."

The Korean captain also pointed out the events that caused the original tactical plan to be broken: “In the first half of the match, we were still able to deploy the team as planned, but in the second half of the match, with the injuries of 2 defensive players, we had difficulty deploying the team and perhaps that was also one of the reasons why we failed.”

In the second leg at home, Mr. Kim affirmed that the Vietnamese team will not give up: “Regarding how to prepare for the second leg, first, I think we need to accept the fact that the Malaysian team has become stronger thanks to the new naturalized players. But football always has room for miracles to happen. If we prepare well for the second leg, I think we still have a chance to make up for the 4 goals we lost today.”

Evaluating the performance of Malaysia's naturalized players, coach Kim Sang-sik said: "Although we tried to analyze as much as possible, all five naturalized players of the opponent performed better than we expected today. And it is true that we had a hard time facing Malaysia. But we will use the experience of today's match to prepare well for next time."

"Our players are also not in the best physical condition due to playing in the V-League. Our initial plan was that if the whole team tried to defend in the first half to avoid conceding a goal, then in the second half, players like Quang Hai and Tien Linh would have a chance to score. However, as I mentioned earlier, due to some injuries to the defensive players, we were unable to play according to the plan," the head coach of the Vietnam team shared more about the team's strength situation.

The Korean strategist also did not forget to send words of encouragement to his students and fans, and took full responsibility for himself: “Although we lost, I think our players played their best. Football rarely goes according to plan.

Although they still have shortcomings, we still have time and will try our best to prepare well for the next match. I know that both the players and Vietnamese football fans are feeling very disappointed because of this unexpected defeat. I realize my responsibility as a head coach."

Finally, Mr. Kim emphasized that defeat, regardless of the score, is still unacceptable, and expressed regret that his players could not score an honorary goal: “Whether the score is 0-2, 0-4 or 0-5, defeat is still defeat. When the score was 0-2, I still directed the players to attack, but it is also regrettable that we did not score a single goal”./.