Young generation has chance to attend AFF Cup
The 2024 ASEAN Cup (formerly known as the AFF Cup) could see an unprecedented number of young players competing. The national teams of Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have long been quietly replacing their squads with talents who have played successfully at the last two SEA Games.
Meanwhile, the Thai national team has called up a squad consisting of many Thai-born players and local players born in 2000 or later. This trend is mandatory for Thai football, because the generation of Theerathon Bunmathan and Chanathip Songkrasin is getting older. The young generation needs to be given the opportunity, and that is considered an important task for coach Ishii Masatada.
As for the Indonesian national team, the way they use young players in the Southeast Asian arena is somewhat forced. The team from the archipelago has never won the AFF Cup but will likely have to use young players because the naturalized stars are unlikely to participate in the Southeast Asian Championship. They still have to play in the European Cup and cannot be released by their home clubs.
After two matches in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, the Indonesian team gathered with a completely different list of 33 players. Many of them are unfamiliar to Vietnamese fans. Indonesia clearly sent the message that they do not aim to win the championship, but only need to reach the final.
The Vietnamese team is the team with the most thorough preparation for the AFF Cup 2024. Coach Kim Sang-sik will have all the best players in his hands when the V.League takes a break for more than a month to make room for the national team. Current stars such as Quang Hai, Hoang Duc, Tuan Hai, Nguyen Filip, Dang Van Lam... are all present.
But there is no shortage of positions where the Vietnamese team is "living" on the breath of young people. In the midfield, Nguyen Thai Son can compete fairly with his seniors for a starting position. The midfielder of Thanh Hoa club has been tested in a number of matches and has shown good professional ability. Dinh Bac, Vi Hao or Quoc Viet provide explosive energy in the forward line. Van Truong or Van Khang are also bright choices at specific times, able to create breakthroughs.
Using young players is an inevitable trend.
For coaches, especially national team captains, they do not consider the team as a place for experimentation. The team’s performance is like a dish that needs to be prepared immediately, meeting high quality requirements immediately. No fan has the patience to wait for the national team to keep losing with the excuse of “rejuvenation”.
However, at the present time, using young players is an inevitable trend for the Vietnam team and Mr. Kim Sang-sik cannot stay out of that rotation. At this time, the "Golden Star Warriors" are in a state of decline after a successful cycle, many pillars have lost their form or gradually lost motivation after a long time.
According to research, the Korean coach previously included no less than 15 players under the age of 22 (who can still participate in the 2025 SEA Games) in the preliminary list of 50 players for the Vietnamese team. After announcing the official list of players, the prominent players who went to Korea for training were goalkeeper Trung Kien, Van Truong, Van Khang, Thai Son, Vi Hao, Quoc Viet, and Dinh Bac.
Given the opportunity, young people need to show themselves with the highest determination and explosive energy. When young players play well, the competitive atmosphere will be enhanced, helping the Vietnamese team become stronger.
But on the other hand, using young players is a gamble for Mr. Kim Sang-sik. It should be remembered that his predecessor Philippe Troussier had to pay the price with both his job and reputation because of his somewhat extreme trust in young players. The former PVF coach put his trust in Dinh Bac, Van Khang, Minh Trong, Tuan Tai... and they themselves made many mistakes.
That said, coach Kim Sang-sik needs to skillfully combine young and key players to help the Vietnamese team escape the quagmire. That journey begins right from the AFF Cup 2024.
