Coach Kim Sang Sik and Vietnam U22: Apart in distance but close at heart

However, many of these players have not been regularly playing at their clubs recently, such as Văn Trường, Văn Hà (Hanoi FC), Công Phương (Viettel Army), Lý Đức (CAHN), or have even been sidelined for a long time due to injury like Vĩ Hào (Becamex TP.HCM). Therefore, the Panda Cup 2025 is the last opportunity for Coach Kim Sang Sik to confirm their readiness for SEA Games 33.

If any player does not meet the professional standard, Coach Kim Sang Sik may consider making changes or adding personnel during the final SEA Games 33 training camp from November 23 to December 1 in Vung Tau, before the entire team departs for Thailand on December 2 to compete in the Southeast Asian Games.

However, this likelihood is low because almost all of the best U22 players have been successively called up and tested by Coach Kim Sang Sik over the past year, so unless in an unavoidable situation, the Korean strategist would probably not want to replace players at such a sensitive moment.

Furthermore, if the Vietnam Football Federation extends his contract, which is very likely, Coach Kim Sang Sik will have plenty of time to work with the current U22 generation, as they are the core of the Vietnam national team if we enter the 2027 Asian Cup finals or the 2030 World Cup qualifiers in Asia. By then, players from the 2018 Thường Châu U23 squad like Duy Mạnh and Bùi Tiến Dũng will hardly maintain the ideal form and fitness to continue holding key roles in the national team.

For all these reasons, it can be predicted that although Coach Kim Sang Sik cannot directly lead the Vietnam U22 team at the Panda Cup 2025, he will closely and thoroughly monitor the performance of each Vietnam U22 player in every match, no less attentively than if he were present in China.