However, VFF still reaffirmed the final goal and interestingly, the task seems to become "easier" with information showing that, in the AFF Cup 2024, the Indonesian team will only use players currently playing in the country, while the Thai team will choose many new factors. Basically, because the AFF Cup is not part of the FIFA competition schedule, clubs are not required to release players.
On the contrary, when VFF and VPF put the V.League and First Division schedules in November (Vietnam team did not take advantage of FIFA Days this month), the Korean coach can choose the best squad according to his point of view. And so, clearly, the goal of "reaching the final" can be upgraded to "championship", although we do not know the personnel of the Indonesian team.
But it is difficult to compare with the naturalized players, who have caused Vietnam to lose consecutively in recent encounters, and their quality will be difficult to match. Then when Thailand was held to a 1-1 draw by Laos in a recent friendly match, the opportunity for Vietnam was even higher. The problem is, if Vietnam wins the championship, will everyone be satisfied when their opponents are not in their best condition? At that time, there was a view that coach Kim Sang-sik should give more opportunities to young players in this tournament, because the future is important.
There will be such an assessment as “double standards”, when wanting to be happy about winning the championship but also wanting to do things the way of the opponent. Winning a tournament, from any perspective, is happy - and importantly, Vietnamese football needs that. If the 47-year-old coach shows his talent for strategy, resourcefulness, and creating opportunities for new, young factors, of course it is great. However, in the current context of Vietnamese football, this is not easy to do in parallel.
Dare to affirm that, should choose only 1!
