Remarkable numbers
Coach Kim Sang-sik announced the list of 36 players for the U22 Vietnam team. This is a large number, even when compared to the national team's reunions (fluctuating around 30 players).
Worth mentioning, these 36 faces only trained for 5 days. With less than a week to go, many fans naturally wonder how Mr. Kim Sang-sik will coach and evaluate all the players he chooses.
However, it should be added that U22 Vietnam gathered at an ideal time. The reason is because throughout 2024 or the first part of 2025, the U22 Vietnam team did not participate in any competition.
Not until the second quarter of next year will U22 Vietnam (as the U23 team) begin competing for tickets to the 2026 U23 Asian finals in Saudi Arabia. And we will have to wait until December 2025 for U22 Vietnam to attend SEA Games 33 in Thailand.
With such a long break, the Korean military leader is not in a hurry to set a target for the number of quality players in the current force of U22 Vietnam. What he needs is to review and initially convey his training ideas and military philosophy to his students.
Players have to compete more in the fronts they participate in, from the national youth team level, the national youth tournament and higher, the V.League. Only then will they gradually accumulate experience to be ready to compete for tickets to the continental youth tournament as well as win back the SEA Games Gold medal they lost to Indonesia last year.
Formula for dividing the U22 Vietnam team
In fact, the U22 Vietnam team that coach Kim Sang-sik selected is divided into 2 groups.
The first is a group of 16 21-year-old players, including Doan Huy Hoang, Tran Trung Kien, Ho Van Cuong, Nguyen Hong Phuc, Nguyen Duc Anh, Nguyen Nhat Minh, Dang Tuan Phong, Khuat Van Khang, Nguyen Duc Phu, Nguyen Phi Hoang, Nguyen Van Tu, Nguyen Xuan Bac, Nguyen Quoc Viet, Bui Vi Hao, Nguyen Thanh Nhan.
The second group is the remaining 19 players, including faces ranging from 18 to 20 years old, even 17 years old. They are Cao Van Binh, Pham Dinh Hai, Nguyen Manh Hung, Tran Nam Hai, Nguyen Bao Long, Le Van Ha, Nguyen Hieu Minh, Mai Quoc Tu, Nguyen Quoc Khanh (17 years old), Nguyen Van Truong, Tran Ngoc Tai, Trinh Long Vu, Vo Anh Quan, Quach Quang Huy, Nguyen Cong Phuong, Nguyen Dinh Bac, Bui Van Binh, Nguyen Thanh Dat, Nguyen Gia Bao.
These two groups of players will have their own paths in the coming period. With the majority of players over 21 years old, they continue to be promoted by coach Kim Sang-sik to the Vietnamese team to compete in international friendly matches, similar to the way his predecessor Troussier did.
Khuat Van Khang, Nguyen Thai Son, Nguyen Quoc Viet, Bui Vi Hao or Nguyen Thanh Nhan or even Nguyen Dinh Bac (19 years old) will continue to be trained in the national team.
Meanwhile, the group of players under 21 years old will be the force of Vietnam's U21 team to go to China to participate in the four-hero friendly tournament with strong opponents China, Malaysia and Uzbekistan U21.
On the one hand, these players will have more fronts to gain experience. On the other hand, a number of faces 19 years old and younger such as Cong Phuong, Dinh Hai, Bao Long, Quoc Khanh also took advantage of the opportunity to train, before joining the U20 Vietnam team to train towards the U20 Asian qualifiers in September. come here.
The alternating of different ages in the U22 Vietnam team can be seen as the beginning of calculations related to the development plan for youth teams, from this point until the end of 2025.
