The exception of Mr. Kim Sang-sik
Unlike 2 years ago, U23 Vietnam defended the U23 Southeast Asian Championship with a charitable force. The players compete practically and promote efficiency. Coach Kim Sang-sik has called up the most quality and experienced players in the current U23 generation.
Van Truong, Van Khang, Trung Kien, Phi Hoang all won the U23 Southeast Asian championship 2 years ago. Nguyen Quoc Viet has won the championship 3 times in the regional tournament. Many players registered to participate in the tournament have also reached maturity under the age of U23 such as Ly Duc, Duc Anh, Tuan Phong, Nhat Minh, Thai Son, Xuan Bac, Quoc Viet (22 years old).
Ngoc My, Van Ha, Anh Quan, Van Truong, Thanh Dat, Minh Phuc or even Viktor Le are only eligible to participate in the only SEA Games taking place at the end of this year. If eliminated, the opportunity to compete in the next regional sports festival will end with many names in this group.
Only 2 cases under 20 years old were registered by Mr. Kim Sang-sik in the list of U23 Southeast Asia 2025, namely Nguyen Cong Phuong and Le Van Thuan. In which, Van Thuan was added at the last minute when Thanh Nhan could not participate in the tournament due to a sudden injury.
Saying so shows how special Nguyen Cong Phuong is in calculating the capital force to promote the safety of the Korean strategist.
Cong Phuong did not appear in the training sessions of the U23 Vietnam team, from September 2024 to before June 2025. The player from Hai Duong (old) only appeared when the team entered the rotation towards the U23 Southeast Asian tournament.
Throughout his time away from the Vietnam youth team, Cong Phuong still developed his talent every day. The Cong Viettel Club has discussed with the U23 Vietnam coaching staff to ensure that the young midfielder can concentrate fully in the V.League.
The army team has meticulously honed the "rough pearls". The player born in 2006 has played 19 times in the V.League. This is an impressive number for young talents who are eager to compete, hit and mature in the national professional tournament.
Proving capacity
Not appearing in the previous squad, Cong Phuong still stayed after 2 shortened lists of U23 Vietnam. In the context of many teammates of the same age such as Van Thuan, Long Vu or his seniors Dang Duong, Alex Bui... saying goodbye one by one, this young midfielder was retained by coach Kim Sang-sik.
Cong Phuong has gradually won a position in the main squad of the U23 Vietnam tournament in the 2025 U23 Southeast Asian tournament. In the semi-finals and finals, he started and took on the right striker position of the defending champion.
In the semi-finals, Cong Phuong almost assisted Dinh Bac to score against U23 Philippines. He also constantly threatened the other team with his dynamism and agility.
But Cong Phuong did not have to wait too long to contribute to the home team's goal. In the final match against U23 Indonesia, it was the player from The Cong Viettel who scored the only goal to bring the championship to U23 Vietnam.
3 years ago, Cong Phuong fell in Indonesia at the U16 Southeast Asian Championship - the time he wore the captain's armband. After 3 years, in a rare young talent position in the experienced squad of U23 Vietnam, Cong Phuong has gradually gained the trust of coach Kim Sang-sik and smiled victoriously in the archipelago.
The exception of Mr. Kim has shown promising development potential. Who knows, fans will see Cong Phuong present on the Vietnam national team in the upcoming 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
