Since coach Kim Sang-sik was appointed, the Vietnam team has had 4 matches, including the last 2 matches in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia and 2 friendly matches during the FIFA Days in September. At the FIFA Days in October, the plan was to have 2 more friendly matches with the Indian team and the Lebanese team, however, due to objective reasons, there will only be 1 match with India on October 12.
Losing a match means missing an opportunity for players to practice, or in other words, “real combat”. A real combat is much more valuable than training sessions. This is confirmed by midfielder Hung Dung.
“For the national team, the more matches the better. Even if we practice for a few weeks or months, it is not as good as 1 or 2 matches. Even if we meet 3 or 4 teams, it is even better. Only when we compete can we make mistakes, thereby overcoming weaknesses to improve. The Vietnamese team really needs matches like that, whether it is against another team or a V.League club. We need to compete,” said the Hanoi FC player.
After the Lebanese side announced that they could not come to Vietnam, there was an idea that the Vietnam Football Federation could arrange another match for the team, perhaps with a club in the V.League, or even select a V.League All-Stars squad with foreign players. It is possible to imagine how good the “partner” is, and how much more experience the Vietnamese team will gain, even though the foreign players have little time to assemble.
“We need to play”, more broadly, not only in the national team but also with many young players at clubs. In the national team, “age is not a concern” - as coach Kim Sang-sik said, but at the club, opportunities for young Vietnamese players are still very few. Only a few names have regularly occupied the starting positions, so sometimes the experience and ability when focusing on the youth team is uneven.
The results of the youth teams in recent times have shown that. So even when called up to the national team, the coach still has certain reservations when using young players. So friendly matches are very necessary…
