On the afternoon of September 2, coach Kim Sang-sik attended a press conference before the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers taking place at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho province).
At the beginning of the press conference, coach Kim Sang-sik gave messages on the country's big holiday. He said: "First of all, I would like to congratulate the Vietnamese people on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of National Day on September 2. I believe that all Vietnamese people are very proud,... This is also a motivation for the U23 Vietnam players to compete well in this tournament".
Evaluating the upcoming journey, coach Kim Sang-sik emphasized: "In the past, the U23 Vietnam team has achieved some results, most recently the Southeast Asian championship. This will be the motivation for the team to continue to strive and try to compete well in the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers."
Regarding personnel, Mr. Kim said that only Van Khang had a slight muscle strain but was still capable of playing in the match against U23 Bangladesh.
When asked about the opponents in the same group, the Korean strategist commented: "The coaching staff has studied the videos of the opponents. I rate Yemen as the strongest opponent of U23 Vietnam in this group.
Regarding the personnel decision, he also explained the case of overseas Vietnamese player Tran Thanh Trung who was recently removed from the list as well as highly appreciated the talent of another overseas Vietnamese player, Viktor Le.
"It's not that they haven't been selected, but this time the team has only registered 23 players. In recent days, when evaluating Trung, I have noticed that he has good basic skills, a determined competitive spirit and promises a bright future. As I said, in the future Trung will be a quality addition to the team. I also had a discussion on this issue and hope Tran Thanh Trung can participate in upcoming tournaments.
Viktor Le is also a quality player. Depending on the opponent, I will consider using Viktor Le to make it suitable".
Before the end of the press conference, coach Kim Sang-sik called for support from the audience. He said: "Hopefully, the fans will come to Viet Tri Stadium in large numbers to cheer for U23 Vietnam, as the fans once accompanied the Vietnam team at the 2024 ASEAN Cup".
According to the schedule, U23 Vietnam will have the opening match of Group C of the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers against U23 Bangladesh at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow (September 3).
