Vietnam Team: Coach Kim Sang Sik is about to show his talent
The Vietnamese team is facing the opportunity to test itself against many strong opponents during the FIFA Days in September and October. How will coach Kim Sang Sik take advantage of this opportunity?
Vietnam team has a "huge" army
With the goal of regaining its position in the region, VFF has been making great efforts to find and invite strong opponents to participate in international friendly matches with the Vietnamese team on the occasion of the FIFA Days taking place in September and October.
At this point, it is almost certain that on FIFA Days in October, coach Kim Sang Sik's team will play Lebanon and India as both teams have accepted invitations and arranged plans to come to Vietnam.
As for the FIFA Days taking place in September, VFF is still promoting plans to invite the Russian and Thai teams to "compete" with the Vietnamese team at Thong Nhat Stadium.
Specifically, the Vietnamese team will gather from August 26 to September 11 in Ho Chi Minh City, before taking the field to meet Russia (September 5) and Thailand a few days later.
Although not 100% certain, according to many sources, it is very likely that coach Kim Sang Sik and his team will have at least 1 match during FIFA Days in September (with an undisclosed opponent) in case Russia or Thailand do not confirm the invitation.
How can coach Kim Sang Sik take advantage of this?
Looking at the teams that have been and are expected to participate in international friendly matches with the Vietnamese team, it is clear that coach Kim Sang Sik and his team's preparation plan for the AFF Cup is relatively favorable.
It can be seen that all the opponents mentioned above are better than the "Golden Star Warriors" in terms of skill, ranking... and in the period when the Vietnamese team has just been transferred to coach Kim Sang Sik, having a good "blue team" to test the fire is extremely valuable.
The remaining question for coach Kim Sang Sik himself is how the Korean strategist can take advantage of this opportunity to best recruit Vietnam for the AFF Cup.
This is something worth noting, because the Vietnamese team only has about 4-5 "warm-up" matches for the AFF Cup, and at the same time, it is very likely that Mr. Kim Sang Sik cannot ensure the best force because he has to share benefits with clubs that have to participate in many fronts such as the Southeast Asian Club Championship Cup, C2 Asia,...
With such a difficult situation, coach Kim Sang Sik is likely to use the matches in September as a screening and testing of the players' abilities before shaping the framework for the Vietnamese team at FIFA Days 1 month later.
That's why the two matches in September (if there are no last-minute changes) with Russia and Thailand are both important and difficult, because coach Kim Sang Sik can call up many players to screen instead of limiting them to less than 30 names like before.
It is necessary to make the best use of these important friendly matches if Mr. Kim Sang Sik wants the first major tournament under his tenure with the Vietnamese team to reap favorable results.
