Coach Kim Sang-sik makes AFF Cup homepage 'offside'

A few days ago, the AFF Cup 2024 homepage published an article predicting 5 young talents who will shine in the teams competing in Group B. In which, the author of the article commented that Nguyen Dinh Bac will be a key factor and become a young star worth watching in the tournament.

" At just 20 years old, Nguyen Dinh Bac has become the center of attention after scoring the equalizer against Japan at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. Although Vietnam lost the match, the young striker will have a promising career with the Golden Star Warriors. He is also the youngest player in their squad at the Asian Cup and will once again participate in the 15th Southeast Asian Championship ," the AFF Cup homepage commented.

However, right before the Vietnamese team left for Laos, coach Kim Sang-sik removed Nguyen Dinh Bac from the official list of 26 players. The striker of the Hanoi Police Club returned home for a few days and then returned to training to prepare for the V.League and the National Cup.

Dinh Bac is a promising young talent, but coach Kim Sang-sik's decision did not surprise many people. The striker born in 2004 has not left much of an impression recently. In the friendly match with India, Dinh Bac was trusted in the second half but did not play well. In Korea, the fact that he had just recovered from an injury prevented Dinh Bac from playing explosively in 3 friendly matches.

In addition to Dinh Bac's case, the AFF Cup 2024 homepage has accurate assessments of the stars of many teams in Group B. They chose Ronaldo Kwateh (Indonesia), Alex Munis (Philippines), Zaw Win Thein (Myanmar) and Damoth Thongkhamsavath (Laos).

Among them, Zaw Win Thein is a student of coach Velizar Popov - who was very successful when working for Dong A Thanh Hoa . Damoth Thongkhamsavath shined in the Lao national championship, his grandparents are Vietnamese. Ronaldo Kwateh is playing for Muanghthong United (Thai League 1) and Alex Munis has made impressive progress in the Philippines.