Coach Kim Sang-sik: Defeating Cambodia is not easy

History records Vietnam winning all 10 matches against Cambodia. The team scored 46 and conceded six goals. In the last three matches, Vietnam won 5-0 in the final qualifying round of the 2019 Asian Cup, 3-0 in the group stage of the 2018 AFF Cup (now ASEAN Cup) and 4-0 in the 2021 AFF Cup. In addition, Cambodia is ranked 180th in FIFA, 66 places below Vietnam.

When asked how Vietnam will be confident of winning, coach Kim Sang-sik remained cautious. "Cambodia has many naturalized players. Their performance at the 2024 ASEAN Cup showed that they are not an easy opponent to defeat," coach Kim Sang-sik said at a press conference before the match this afternoon, March 18. "The strength of Southeast Asian teams is changing every day. We will have to try our best."

As the Southeast Asian champion, coach Kim Sang-sik feels the responsibility of the whole team to help the fans enjoy the joy. The atmosphere in the Vietnamese team is very positive and the players are in good shape. The match against Cambodia is the first match of the team after winning the 2024 ASEAN Cup, although it is just a friendly, it is meaningful to coach Kim.

"I want to see how the new faces in the Vietnamese team perform and expect a victory," said the 49-year-old coach. "Cambodia has changed compared to before. I will be careful to find a way to deal with it tomorrow."

The match against Cambodia is the final rehearsal before Vietnam welcomes Laos, in the opening match of Group F of the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup. The match takes place on the evening of March 25 at Binh Duong Stadium.

Unlike Vietnam, Cambodia did not have a ticket to the final qualifying round after losing to Sri Lanka in the play-off series. Therefore, the team only played friendly matches, visiting Vietnam and then returning to Phnom Penh to host Aruba - a team from Central America.

Coach Koji Gyotoku has called up 23 players, including 10 replacements from the 2024 ASEAN Cup. The two absent naturalized players are defender Hikaru Mizuno (Japanese origin) and Leng Nora (Ghana). The six naturalized players included are center back Kan Mo (South Africa), Takasi Ose, midfielder Yudai Ogawa (Japan), striker Andres Nieto (Colombia) and Abdel Kader Coulibaly (Ivory Coast). In addition, the team has two mixed-race players, Nick Taylor and Bong Samuel.

Coach Kim Sang-sik praised striker Coulibaly, who scored twice at the ASEAN Cup. "He is a dangerous player, but we do not focus on one player," he said. "Vietnam has Do Duy Manh, Nguyen Thanh Chung and other defenders who can control the situation well."

In the 2024 ASEAN Cup, Vietnam will use Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho as its home ground. But this time, the team will move to Binh Duong. The Korean coach said the players have to adapt to two things. First is the hot weather, then the ginger grass field at Binh Duong Stadium, while most stadiums in Vietnam use coniferous grass.

In the early days, the team's strength was in turmoil, when goalkeeper Nguyen Filip asked to be absent to visit his seriously ill grandfather in the Czech Republic. Coach Kim Sang-sik decided to promote goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien from the U22 team to replace him. After that, central defender Bui Hoang Viet Anh had to leave the team due to a relapse of his knee injury. The coach born in 1976 also called up goalkeeper Trinh Xuan Hoang (Thanh Hoa Club) to prevent goalkeeper Nguyen Dinh Trieu's back injury from getting worse.

"Dinh Trieu has almost recovered and is ready for tomorrow's match," said coach Kim. "Trieu's ability to play will be decided by the coaching staff after tonight's practice session."