U22 Vietnam wins gold at SEA Games 33: Very happy, but don’t get too carried away!

22/12/2025 20:08:00 PlaymakerHub

Following the triumph of U22 Vietnam winning the gold at SEA Games 33, many have drawn comparisons between Coach Kim Sang Sik and his predecessor Park Hang Seo, suggesting that what Kim achieved even made Coach Park... "surrender"!

We celebrate the two recent wins against Thailand on their home turf, both at the senior national team level (ASEAN Cup 2024) and the U22 squad at SEA Games 33, all within a single year. This is an uncommon event, seen for the first time. Nevertheless...

All achievements such as winning the ASEAN Cup 2024, then the U23 Southeast Asia Championship 2025, and most recently the SEA Games 33 gold medal under Coach Kim Sang Sik are confined to the regional level. Vietnamese football in the past has also experienced reaching the top in these mentioned competitions.

On the continental stage, Coach Kim Sang Sik still has little to compare with his predecessor Park Hang Seo, as we are still awaiting the AFC’s disciplinary decision and the outcome of the second leg against Malaysia in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers to know if we have a chance to participate in the final tournament of the Asian Championship.

Coach Kim Sang Sik is doing a great job continuing what Coach Park Hang Seo successfully started. Photo: Tuấn Phạm.

What about the predecessor Park Hang Seo? SEA Games gold medals? Not just one, but back-to-back wins in the 2019 and 2022 editions. Champion of Southeast Asia (ASEAN Cup) 2018, semifinalist at ASIAD 18, quarterfinalist in the 2019 Asian Cup, runner-up at the 2018 U23 Asian Championship, and another unprecedented milestone was leading Vietnamese football to the third round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, competing directly with giants like Japan, Australia, and Saudi Arabia...

The historic milestones that Coach Park Hang Seo brought to Vietnamese football in just five years are very difficult to replicate. More importantly, the inspiration he provided to the nation’s football scene is endless. It is undeniable that his successor Kim Sang Sik is also inheriting that inspiration.

Within the scope of this article, we will not delve deeply into the close relationship between these two Korean coaches. Football is inherently about continuous succession. Coach Kim is simply trying to leverage internal resources and benefits from the era of open mechanisms. The clearest example is the emergence of Nguyễn Xuân Son, the key to success in the ASEAN Cup 2024 campaign, as well as the Vietnamese overseas players who followed.

After stepping down as head coach of Vietnam’s national teams, Coach Henrique Calisto advised that for Vietnamese football to conquer the top tier of Asia’s strongest football nations, it must regularly appear in the finals of regional tournaments. This is the necessary path.

Therefore, calmly analyzing, Coach Kim Sang Sik has only achieved the necessary conditions so far. To reach the level of predecessor Park Hang Seo, a master of psychological tactics, will likely take a very long time.

A very real concern is the gap following the generation of U22 Vietnam who just won the SEA Games gold. Even a prestigious training center like Hanoi FC cannot find a promising cohort beyond the current U17 team. Meanwhile, Viettel, HAGL, and even PVF are inconsistent and mediocre.

To raise the level of our football’s conquering ability, we need dozens, even hundreds, of large-scale academies or training centers. Relying on just a few talented generations of players is clearly not a sustainable method. Both Coach Park Hang Seo and Kim Sang Sik are merely facilitators!

CCKM

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