On the evening of June 10, at Bukit Jalil Stadium, the Vietnam team suffered a 0-4 defeat to Malaysia in the second match of the 2027 Asian Cup final qualifiers.
At the post-match press conference, coach Kim Sang-sik said: "First of all, as head coach, I feel sorry for the Vietnamese fans who traveled a long distance to watch the team compete in Malaysia, as well as all the fans who are watching the match on television.
I didn't think Vietnam would lose to Malaysia 0-4. In the first half of the match, we were still able to deploy the lineup as planned, but in the second half of the match, with the injuries of 2 defenders, we had difficulty deploying the lineup and perhaps that was one of the reasons why we failed."
Coach Kim Sang-sik also added about the difficulties related to the force situation: "Our players are not in the best physical condition due to having to compete in the V.League.
Our initial plan was that if the whole team tried to defend in the first half so as not to concede, in the second half, players like Quang Hai and Tien Linh would have the opportunity to score.
However, due to some injuries to the defenders, we could not play as planned."
The heavy defeat against a direct opponent made the goal of the Vietnamese team winning a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup finals difficult. However, coach Kim Sang-sik still believes that miracles are possible.
"Regarding the preparation for the return match in Hanoi, first of all, I think we need to accept the fact that the Malaysian team has become stronger thanks to new naturalized players.
But football always has room for miracles to happen. If we had prepared well for the return match, I think we still had a chance to make up for today's 4 goals. The return match in Hanoi will decide the top spot in the group," said coach Kim Sang-sik.
When asked about the naturalized players on the Malaysian side, coach Kim Sang-sik commented: "Although we have tried to analyze as much as possible, all 5 naturalized players of the opponent today have performed better than we expected.
And it's true that we had a hard time facing Malaysia. But we will use the experience of today's match to prepare well for the next one".
Whether it is 0-2 or 0-4 or 0 5, defeat is still defeat. When the score was 0-2, I still directed the players to attack but it was a pity that we did not score a single goal," coach Kim Sang-sik added.
After losing to Malaysia, the Vietnam team temporarily ranked 2nd in Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup final qualifiers. The two teams will have a return match in March 2026.
