Many data
The FIFA Days gathering in March brought relatively complete assessments to the Vietnamese national team coaching staff. The friendly match with Bangladesh is the basis for reviewing the force and testing the playing style, while the confrontation with Malaysia in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers is considered a test step at a higher intensity of competition.
Against Bangladesh, the Vietnamese team operated many personnel options in all 3 lines. Some positions were swapped to check adaptability. When entering the match against Malaysia, many positions were kept more stable, thereby gradually forming a fixed playing framework.
The transition between two attacking and defensive states is also clearly organized, with a 3-4-3 system when having the ball and retreating to 5-4-1 when it is necessary to preserve the structure.
In the attacking front, the Vietnamese team has somewhat improved their ability to approach the penalty area. Wing attack situations are deployed with higher frequency, creating many opportunities from accurate crosses. The clearest proof is that both of Xuan Son's goals originated from the same scenario, showing the effectiveness of exploiting space behind the opponent's defense.
Another notable point is the combination between Xuan Son and Hoang Hen, giving coach Kim Sang-sik more options in the attacking organization stage. Hoang Hen plays the role of connecting and supporting behind the center forward, while Xuan Son takes on the finishing stage.
Although there are still some unstable moments, especially in central defense and second ball handling, but overall, the Vietnamese team has shown progress. More importantly, coach Kim Sang-sik has more basis to identify the group of players suitable for each role. From these two matches, shaping the official framework has become clearer.
The all-win result in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers and a friendly match have helped the Vietnamese team significantly improve their score to rise to 98th place in the FIFA rankings. This is an important factor in enhancing their position and creating an advantage when entering the next tournaments.
Preparing for a new goal
After completing the goal in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers, the next goal of the Vietnamese team is the ASEAN Cup 2026. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team entered the tournament as defending champions and this is considered an invisible pressure.
According to the plan, the Vietnamese team will regroup after the domestic tournaments end in June. The preparation period lasting more than 1 month is allocated to many events, including physical training, organizing friendly matches and perfecting the tactical system.
A foreign training trip is also on the roadmap to help the team adapt to competition conditions and strengthen training.
At ASEAN Cup 2026, the Vietnamese team is in the same group as Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia and the winning team in the Timor Leste - Brunei qualifying match.In which, Indonesia is an opponent with a strong change in force, Singapore maintains stability, and the remaining teams tend to rejuvenate their squads.This creates a group with high competition and no longer as uneven as before.
The Southeast Asian Championship takes place in a home-away format, with continuous competition density in a short period of time. Therefore, improving fitness, physical condition, allocating forces and maintaining stability through each match are key factors. This is also the reason why the coaching staff prioritizes building a sufficiently deep framework, ensuring rotation ability without reducing operating quality.
In addition to professional factors, psychological pressure is also an issue to consider. Protecting the title means high expectations from fans. Therefore, the requirement to maintain stable form throughout the tournament is set for Quang Hai and his teammates.
With a fairly long preparation time and the foundation from the recent positive matches, the Vietnamese team has the conditions to enter the ASEAN Cup 2026 with the highest proactiveness and determination.
