The first 6 months of 2024 are considered a disaster for the Vietnamese team. Consecutive defeats against the "dirty" opponent Indonesia caused Vietnam to stop early in the final round of the 2023 Asian Cup and the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.
This forced coach Troussier to leave before the end of his contract. The French coach was unable to help Vietnamese football achieve the high achievements he promised in his inauguration speech a year ago.
Immediately after that, the Vietnam Football Federation urgently searched for a replacement and decided to choose a Korean coach - Mr. Kim Sang-sik. The strategist born in 1972 led the national team with many doubts from fans.
Mr. Kim has brought a new wind to the Vietnam team in the next stage, stimulating the fighting spirit of the players. However, in terms of results, coach Kim Sang-sik still cannot satisfy the fans.
Before the start of the 2024 ASEAN Cup, the Vietnamese team played 5 matches, including 2 official matches in the World Cup qualifiers and 3 friendly matches. Quang Hai and his teammates only won 1 match against the Philippines, drew with India and lost to Russia, Iraq and Thailand respectively.
The preparation of the Vietnamese team before entering the Southeast Asian championship was very fragile. Many friendly plans were broken, even the "blue team" in the training session in Korea, clubs from K.League 1 and K.League 2, were also considered unsuitable.
However, coach Kim Sang-sik has proven his worth. Although the squad no longer has veteran players such as Ngoc Hai, Hung Dung, Van Lam, Tuan Anh, instead there are some new faces such as Ngoc Tan, Hai Long, Tien Anh, Van Khang... but the Vietnamese team still successively overcame obstacles named Laos (4-1), Indonesia (1-0), Philippines (1-1), Myanmar (5-0), Singapore (2-0, 3-1) and especially Thailand (2-1, 3-2) to win the ASEAN Cup championship.
A few months ago, Mr. Kim Sang-sik and his students received negative reactions when they lost 0-1 to Thailand in a friendly match in September 2024. Turning the defeat into motivation, the Vietnamese team rematched the "War Elephants" and brought home 2 important victories, even lifting the championship trophy right on Thai soil.
The Vietnam team has brought a big boost to the country's football in general after a somewhat gloomy 2024. The year 2025 has begun, but Vietnamese football has only just completed the 2024 plan. New hopes have been opened after the Southeast Asian championship.
