Coach Kim Sang-sik believes in Nguyen Xuan Son, Vietnam team has a wide path to win AFF Cup

On the afternoon of December 3, coach Kim Sang-sik officially called up Nguyen Xuan Son to the Vietnam national team. After exactly 2 months of obtaining Vietnamese citizenship, the striker born in 1997 fulfilled his dream of playing for the national team. He immediately entered the official tournament with unprecedented expectations placed on him. Nguyen Xuan Son is very classy, ​​but is he a guarantee for Mr. Kim's success?

Never before seen parameters

No striker playing for the Vietnamese national team has ever achieved such good statistics as Nguyen Xuan Son. In the 2023 season, he scored 16 goals in 18 matches for Binh Dinh Club.

At the beginning of the 2023/2024 season, he left Quy Nhon Stadium and decided to move to Nam Dinh Club. At Thien Truong Stadium, the Brazilian star achieved even more unbelievable statistics when he scored 31 goals in V.League after 26 matches, an efficiency of more than 1 goal/match.

In the 2024/2025 season, he soon scored 7 goals after 7 matches in the V.League. He scored 2 more goals in the Super Cup, 3 goals in the AFC Champions League Two. Nguyen Xuan Son is no different from half of the strength of Nam Dinh Club in the past 2 years.

If only counting in V.League, Son soon reached the milestone of 71 goals after only 5 years playing in Vietnam. At the age of 27, it is not difficult for this player to break many records, surpassing the goal milestone of Gonzalo, Samson or Van Quyet.

It's not often that the head coach of the Vietnamese team has such good personnel in attack.

The championship door is wide open?

The Indonesian team only brought a young team to the AFF Cup, but Thailand still has a squad of top players, not to mention the surprise from the Philippines. The goal of the Vietnamese team is to win the AFF Cup 2024, although the VFF leadership has avoided talking much about this story to reduce pressure on coach Kim Sang-sik.

If he continues to come up empty-handed at the AFF Cup, the Korean coach may not be able to complete his term, especially at a time when trust and patience are becoming luxuries.

However, it is still too early to say that Nguyen Xuan Son will immediately bring success to the Vietnam national team. In fact, it is not uncommon for a star to play very well at the club level but fail when playing for the national team. There is still a big difference between the two playing environments that is not easy to overcome.

It must be recognized that Nguyen Xuan Son plays effectively and excellently, but around him are quality satellites, many foreign players with higher performance than the big stars of the Vietnam team. Hendrio, Caio or Joseph Mpande are better than Hoang Duc, Quang Hai or Dinh Bac in 2024. How will Xuan Son manage without familiar teammates?

In fact, for the past 2 weeks, the Vietnamese team has been practicing without Nguyen Xuan Son. The Brazilian player has not had a single minute to practice tactics and match tactics with his new teammates.

According to the regulations, the striker born in 1997 can only enter the field from the last match of the group stage against the Myanmar team. Coach Kim Sang-sik has to calculate very carefully. If Xuan Son is put in the starting lineup, he has to leave out two pillars, Nguyen Tien Linh and Pham Tuan Hai. This duo both scored in Korea.

Leaving aside a star who has contributed a lot over the years and finding a new player is always a relatively risky move. Xuan Son shines, coach Kim Sang-sik wins big. On the contrary, if Son "fails to score", the Vietnamese team will have to prepare more backup plans.

However, it must be affirmed that with Nguyen Xuan Son, the chance of Vietnam winning the 2024 AFF Cup has become much brighter.