This is a rehearsal for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team before the friendly match with the Indian team on October 12.
In fact, the team from Thanh Nam is the "blue team" replacing the Lebanese team that cannot come to Vietnam to compete. However, Nam Dinh's squad has up to 8 foreign players and a quality domestic squad, still ensuring the professional requirements for a friendly match.
From this match, coach Kim Sang-sik will evaluate his players' abilities, test tactical options, and improve the weaknesses of the Vietnamese team.
Notably, this match also helps the Korean coach "check out" some other factors. The face that receives the most attention at the moment is striker Nguyen Xuan Son (Rafaelson) of Nam Dinh FC.
Xuan Son has successfully naturalized as a Vietnamese citizen and will compete in the 2024-2025 V.League as a domestic player. In the previous two seasons, the striker born in 1997 was an excellent striker with an impressive scoring efficiency, challenging all opponent defenses.
However, during this training session, Nguyen Xuan Son is not eligible to wear the national team jersey and needs to wait for approval from the Vietnam Football Federation.
In addition, coach Kim Sang-sik also needs more practical matches to test Nguyen Xuan Son's form and ability. In fact, in the last 3 rounds of V.League, Nam Dinh's main striker has not "opened fire".
Therefore, this is also an opportunity for him to demonstrate his ability and score points in the eyes of the captain of the Vietnamese team.
