Coach Kim Sang Sik's final screening

On July 7, Coach Kim Sang Sik had the first screening session after 10 days of gathering in Ba Ria - Vung Tau .

Surprise from Mr. Kim

In the first screening round, although U22 Vietnam lacked a quality striker, Mr. Kim still eliminated Nguyen Dang Duong - a 1m84 tall striker whose only strength is this position, and who won the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship with U23 Vietnam.

The next surprise is that 6/8 players eliminated in the first round all have some experience playing in the V-League. In fact, 4 of them are even mainstays in their clubs such as Dinh Xuan Tien, Quang Vinh, Le Dinh Long Vu (Song Lam Nghe An ), and Le Van Thuan (Thanh Hoa) - "Best player of V-League 2024 - 2025".

More notably, Le Van Thuan also scored for U22 Vietnam in a training match against the Vietnamese team, losing 1-2 in May, and a recent friendly match against U22 Taiwan, winning 5-0. However, the 19-year-old player still could not stay because Mr. Kim had many good attacking players on the left wing, such as Khuat Van Khang, Viktor Le, Dinh Bac, Thanh Nhan, Phi Hoang, and new recruit Ngoc My.

According to the coaching staff, the two closed friendly matches against U22 Taiwan helped U22 Vietnam's playing style operate better.

However, coach Kim Sang Sik and his team will continue to make adjustments to maintain the best quality, especially ball control and passing skills - key factors to help the squad operate effectively. At the same time, Mr. Kim will continue to test the players before finalizing the official list of 23 players to participate in the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship.

Teachers and students work together

In fact, coach Kim Sang Sik has found the main frame for U22 Vietnam. Stars such as goalkeeper Trung Kien, center back Pham Ly Duc, midfielder Thai Son, Van Truong, striker Viktor Le, Quoc Viet are ready. The only thing left for Mr. Kim is to find a second plan for each position as well as flexibility in adapting personnel on the field at each time.

U22 Vietnam currently has 5 strikers. And it is not impossible that Mr. Kim will eliminate 1 or 2 players if the strikers "survived" after the first screening round do not meet professional requirements. Overseas Vietnamese striker Bui Alex (Czech Republic) is one of them as he has not shown good integration in the second time returning to the country to concentrate.

Rookie Ngoc My and striker Dinh Bac, who used to play for the Vietnamese national team, also need to make an effort to stay. Ngoc My's advantage is that she can play as a winger or a striker, and has a variety of finishing abilities. Meanwhile, Dinh Bac is determined to regain his form after a long period of injury.

"Competition helps the whole team, whoever performs well will be selected. Each player must try their best to be on the final list," Dinh Bac shared.

The Vietnam U22 team, under the leadership of two coaches Dinh The Nam and Hoang Anh Tuan, won the 2022 and 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championships.

This is also a pressure for coach Kim Sang Sik in Indonesia. In addition to having to bring the team to a good result, Mr. Kim also has to build the squad for the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers in September and further to compete for the gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games at the end of the year in Thailand.