Six months ago, coach Kim Sang-sik officially led the Vietnamese team, with the mission set by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to reach the final of the 2024 ASEAN Cup (formerly the AFF Cup).
In the current context of Vietnamese football, fans find it difficult to believe that Mr. Kim Sang-sik and his students can complete the initial goals, judging from the official and friendly matches in recent times.
Under the Korean coach, the Vietnamese team won 1 match against the Philippines (World Cup qualifier 2), 1 draw against India (friendly match) and 3 losses against Iraq (World Cup qualifier 2), Thailand, Russia (friendly match).
Obviously, fans are not satisfied with the above results. Notably, in the match against Thailand, the players played somewhat below their ability, making many passing errors and not being able to take full advantage of the opportunities created.
Not to mention, currently, the players are not in the best form. Except for some faces like Tien Linh, To Van Vu, Van Lam, Nguyen Filip, Thai Son, Tuan Tai... most of the players are playing inconsistently.
For example, in the attack, Van Quyet, who has maintained a high level of performance, has decided to retire from his international career. Meanwhile, Rafaelson (Nguyen Xuan Son) is not yet eligible to wear the national team jersey; Pham Tuan Hai has just recovered from an injury; Nguyen Van Toan is still being treated for an ankle injury; Dinh Bac, Van Tung, Vi Hao, Quoc Viet and Van Truong have played some good and some bad games...
On the contrary, Vietnam's opponents such as Thailand and Indonesia are maintaining stability and making professional progress.
At the AFF Cup 2024, the Vietnamese team is in the same group as the Indonesian team. The team from the archipelago is a "phenomenon" of Southeast Asian football. Under the leadership of Shin Tae-yong and a large number of naturalized players, Indonesia is playing quite well in the third qualifying round of the World Cup and has achieved positive results.
Similarly, Thailand and the Philippines also had good momentum in recent friendly matches.
In November, when the opponents in the AFF Cup all have 1-2 friendly matches during the FIFA Days, the Vietnamese team cannot gather due to the V.League schedule. In return, Mr. Kim Sang-sik and his students will have a short training session in Korea and a few practice matches with clubs there. That is also a disadvantage for the Vietnamese team.
Returning to the AFF Cup group stage, Vietnam's biggest rival is Indonesia. If they defeat this team, Vietnam will likely win the top spot in Group B and "avoid" Thailand (the strongest team in Group A) in the semi-finals.
In case they only win second place in the group, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team have a 90% chance of meeting Thailand in the semi-finals and the challenge of getting a ticket to the final will be more difficult at this time.
That said, the result of the match against Indonesia in the group stage is very important. But before thinking about a ticket to the knockout round, the Vietnamese team needs to defeat the other opponents in the same group, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines.
