Mr. Kim recounted the situation of being denied a penalty and explained the rotation of players

Mr. Kim Sang-sik praised his students

The Vietnamese team escaped a dramatic defeat against the Philippines in a heroic performance on the evening of December 18 at Rizal Memorial Stadium. Losing the first goal after Gayoso’s beautiful turn and finish in the 68th minute, coach Kim Sang-sik’s students still tried until the last minute. Doan Ngoc Tan’s goal in the 90+7 minute pulled the Vietnamese team back from the abyss. With 1 point ahead of the Philippines, the team still maintains its unbeaten streak and superiority in the race to win tickets to the semi-finals.

“The match against the Philippines was very difficult. The Vietnamese team could not score goals or create good opportunities. We are sorry that we were denied a penalty in the first half. We worked hard in the second half to get a goal. Finally, thank you to the players who tried their best to get this result. The Vietnamese team did not give up and tried until the end, getting a goal in the last minute.

I think this is a miracle thanks to the effort. This is a very difficult match for the Vietnamese team. We couldn’t score or create many good enough chances in the first half. However, the players tried harder in the second half, after being behind, and then got the equalizer at the last minute. With this result, the team is wide open to enter the semi-finals, right on schedule,” coach Kim Sang-sik affirmed.

When asked about the decision to rotate the force by bringing in many new players compared to the previous match, coach Kim Sang-sik said: “Using different personnel for each match definitely has the most impact.” intended for the players. But overall today, this did not have too negative an impact, because the players still performed well in their positions on the field until the end of the match.”

In the final match, the Vietnamese team returned to Viet Tri’s home stadium to welcome Myanmar (8:00 p.m. on December 21). “The Vietnamese team is still open to the semi-finals,” Mr. Kim assessed. The right to self-determination and the lessons learned at Rizal Memorial Stadium will help the Vietnamese team become more stable in the decisive match.

The advantage for Quang Hai and his teammates is their impressive performance in decisive matches. From 2014 until now, the Vietnamese team has won all the group stage matches. Specifically, Vietnam won against the Philippines 3-1 (2014), Cambodia 2-1 (2016), Cambodia 3-0 (2018), Cambodia 4-0 (2021) and Myanmar 3-0 (2022). By constantly rotating the squad, coach Kim Sang-sik’s students promise to have a good physical foundation for the match against Myanmar. At the same time, Coach Kim will have the service of Nguyen Xuan Son. This 27-year-old naturalized striker is eligible to play for the Vietnamese team from December 20. Therefore, the match against Myanmar on the evening of December 21 will likely be Xuan Son’s debut in the national team shirt. In a context where the attackers cannot score effectively, Xuan Son will bring an interesting solution.

At 11:15 p.m. today (December 19), the Vietnamese team will move from Manila back to Hanoi. It is expected that at 1:40 a.m. on December 20, the whole team will arrive at Noi Bai airport, then move to Phu Tho to prepare for the match against Myanmar. Mr. Kim’s teachers and students only had 1 day of practice towards the decisive match. The Vietnamese team has a good record against Myanmar, having been undefeated continuously in recent years at the AFF Cup.