On the morning of December 14, coach Kim Sang-sik of the Vietnamese team attended a press conference before the match against the Indonesian team in the group stage of the ASEAN Cup (formerly known as the AFF Cup 2024).
At the beginning of the press conference, the Korean strategist said: "I would like to thank the reporters for being here today as well as for their support for the Vietnamese team. I know that tomorrow's match is important. The whole team, including the coaching staff and the players, are well prepared and ready for today's match. We are confident that we can win 3 points against our opponents."
Mr. Kim Sang-sik added: "I have a close relationship with coach Shin Tae-yong. When we were players, we played on the same team, shared the same room, he was my senior and I respected him very much.
Now, both of our roles are as head coaches of the Indonesian and Vietnamese national teams and we look forward to tomorrow's match. However, this match is very important, so I will have to put aside all personal feelings to achieve the best result."
Previously, Mr. Shin Tae-yong complained about the tight schedule at the ASEAN Cup 2024, which affected the physical strength of Indonesian players.
Regarding this, the head coach of the Vietnamese team said: "I agree with this. The Indonesian team just met Laos 2 days ago and immediately went to Vietnam, so the players will be tired, not physically fit, and worried about injuries. But in this tournament, the match schedule of the teams is the same. Tomorrow after the match, we also have to move to the Philippines for the next match. My plan is to rotate the squad to achieve the best results in the matches."
Regarding the playing style and plan to counter Indonesia in the upcoming match, Mr. Kim said: "The whole team has watched Indonesia's matches, I see that they have many young players, good connection and a stable midfield. However, the opponent has just gone through a long journey, is somewhat tired and is not at 100% physical strength.
The Vietnamese team will have to take advantage of that to put pressure and win tomorrow's match. Up to now, we are well prepared and mentally ready and confident."
Finally, the coach born in 1972 emphasized: "After watching the match with Laos, many people think that Vietnam will easily defeat Indonesia. But I personally do not care about the score, we can win by 1, 2 or 3 goals.
But I know how difficult it is to score goals, because the teams in this tournament are all strong. Indonesia has many young and enthusiastic players, so now I just focus on the preparation plan and aim for tomorrow's victory.
We know that Indonesia's Arhan is good at throwing the ball in, which is also an important card for them. The whole team is prepared and determined not to concede goals in such situations."
For his part, midfielder Quang Hai said: "I did not play in the match against Indonesia in the World Cup qualifiers in March. I think each team has different strengths and weaknesses and now I am only focusing on tomorrow's match. The whole team is well prepared and has plans to achieve the best results.
People see me as smaller, but I see many things bigger. That is, the whole team has greater determination and higher concentration, must show solidarity, determination, and effort in each match to be able to achieve favorable results.
In the past few days, the Vietnamese team has been training comfortably and receiving the affection of the people of Phu Tho. We will try our best to give our fans the best performance. I think there is no difference between training and competing in Phu Tho or Hanoi."
