Coach Hoàng Văn Phúc: 'Vietnamese football moves forward with confidence and enthusiasm'

10/10/2025 13:29:00 ChampionChatter

Looking toward the next development phase of Vietnamese football, Coach Hoàng Văn Phúc believes the new circumstances present challenges, and there is no easy path unless Vietnamese football nurtures bravery and determination to venture forward and conquer new peaks.

Coach Hoàng Văn Phúc notes: "It is clear that after achieving certain successes at both regional and continental levels, the national football is essentially 'starting anew' with the World Cup as the target. According to the roadmap, after winning the ASEAN Cup 2024, Vietnam’s goal is to aim for continental and global competitions. Therefore, not only Coach Kim Sang Sik thinks about this, but anyone involved with Vietnamese football pursues this objective. Naturally, this involves challenges, obstacles, and hardships that require collective effort and unity to reach that goal.

From the ASEAN Cup 2024 to the successful path of Vietnam’s U23 team, Coach Kim Sang Sik has shown consistency in his selective youth rejuvenation philosophy, while also being ready to create breakthroughs at certain critical moments. The Korean coach continues to work tirelessly on this.

Additionally, he has had more time to understand Vietnamese football and the players he selects. Coach Kim Sang Sik is improving and arranging players according to their abilities to build a Vietnamese team layered with both old and new talents. Hopefully, in the near future, the Korean coach will discover untapped "ores" from domestic competitions.

The fiercely competitive and exciting domestic leagues currently underway offer players the chance to demonstrate their abilities and impress Coach Kim Sang Sik to be called up to the national team and U23 Vietnam during each training camp.

Youth football training remains the foundation and future of Vietnamese football at every level, from clubs to the national team. Photo: Hoàng Linh

Coach Hoàng Văn Phúc believes Vietnamese football must build strength internally: "With the rapid recent changes in Southeast Asian football, especially the naturalization issue, it will certainly affect Vietnamese football. Furthermore, following the success of Nguyễn Xuân Son, there has been much discussion about using overseas Vietnamese players and naturalized players in the national team.

Selecting naturalized players will be an appropriate solution under the current circumstances. However, which players to naturalize and the proportion of naturalized players in the Vietnamese team must be carefully calculated.

Currently, some Vietnamese-origin players who have naturalized and are playing in the V-League have expressed their desire to play for the Vietnamese national team. Particularly, these players meet the regulations for SEA Games 33, which will take place at the end of this year. Therefore, it is not impossible that Coach Kim Sang Sik will make "bold" decisions to prepare for achieving more success with Vietnamese football.

However, as stated, using naturalized players is only a temporary solution, not a breakthrough, fundamental, or long-term approach in building and developing the Vietnamese national team. In reality, not all foreign players currently playing in the V-League are outstanding enough to push for naturalization and national team opportunities.

Certainly, Vietnamese football will not use naturalized players on a large scale like Indonesia or Malaysia. The core for the country’s football success is based on our own foundation: strong professional clubs, youth training, and a high-quality V-League that is continuously improving.

What we have achieved is like a strong springboard for Vietnamese football to regain momentum. But to aim for sustainable values, there is still much work to do. We must not be complacent because success is a journey, not just a destination.

Vietnamese football needs renewal and must overcome limitations to create a more powerful transformation, from youth training, professional league systems, to all levels of the national team."

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