Overcoming yourself
In 2 days, U23 Vietnam will leave for Indonesia to participate in the 2025 U23 Southeast Asian Championship. Previously, this tournament only focused on fighting and testing the squad of U23 Vietnam. However, this time, coach Kim Sang-sik and his students took it seriously and focused to the maximum.
The pressure of achievements is the first thing present. In the previous two seasons, although not choosing the optimal squad, coaches Dinh The Nam and Hoang Anh Tuan both helped U23 Vietnam win the championship.
In addition, the 0-4 defeat to Malaysia of the Vietnam team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers was invisible, causing Mr. Kim to put pressure on himself.
Therefore, coach Kim Sang-sik's task is to focus all his efforts on U23 Vietnam in the first 6 months of the year, with 3 fronts including U23 Southeast Asia, U23 Asian qualifiers and SEA Games 33. A favorable result in the regional tournament will be the premise for U23 Vietnam to be more confident for the next 2 fronts.
In addition, the Korean coach still maintains the habit of personnel strategy in Vietnam national teams, which is to use the best lineup from the time of training until participating in international tournaments.
Dinh Bac, Van Khang, Van Truong, Thai Son, Quoc Viet have continuously participated in regional and continental tournaments in the past 2 years. Meanwhile, Trung Kien, Ly Duc, Viktor Le... are new factors that have been given the opportunity to compete regularly in the V.League last season.
With a team of experience and the courage to compete in major tournaments, U23 Vietnam clearly received the target of winning the U23 Southeast Asian Championship for the third time in history.
Pressure from opponents
In addition to expectations for achievements, U23 Vietnam also has to face strong candidates.
The first name is the host U23 Indonesia. Coach Donald Vanenburg has selected more than 10 national players who have participated in the 2024 ASEAN Cup to the squad. The experience accumulated from this tournament helps the youth team of the archipelago be highly appreciated for their competitiveness.
The playing style of the U23 Indonesia is unlikely to be much different from the national team, where Mr. Vanenburg is currently the assistant head coach. The fast, strong, physically rich European-style playing style will be the tactical highlight of the upcoming tournament host.
In addition, the Indonesian Football Federation also comprehensively supports coach Vanenburg, from selecting a quality assistant team to equipping experts for data analysis and fitness. This shows the methodical investment and great determination of the Indonesian football in conquering the regional arena.
U23 Malaysia is also a formidable challenge. The transformation of the national team after the naturalization process, especially the 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the Asian Cup qualifiers, has helped coach Nafuzi Zain and his team receive significant attention. The captain of the U23 Malaysia team is also determined to conquer the Southeast Asian championship for the first time in history.
Up to now, U23 Malaysia still has kept 30 players before going to Indonesia to compete. Player Ferguson Tierney declared: "We want to win all matches. No matter who the opponent is, the only goal is to win every time they play. We respect all opponents, but we are not afraid of anyone.
Compared to U23 Malaysia, U23 Indonesia and U23 Vietnam, U23 Thailand were somewhat affected in the preparation process when coach Takayuki Nishigaya was fired after a series of bad matches with 5 consecutive defeats.
However, that does not mean that the "War Elephants" have given up in the U23 Southeast Asian tournament. His successor, Mr. Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtraku, confidently said: "We aim for the championship. More importantly, the journey and how to achieve the goal when there is not much time to prepare. We have prepared carefully, studied each player and assigned specific tasks to the coaching staff".
U23 Thailand is still maintaining a fairly heavy training schedule with 2 sessions/day. In recent training sessions, coach Thawatchai Damrong-Ongakul has focused on practicing attack and defense tactics for the Thai players.
