"Vietnam Hero" Director Kim Sang-sik made it to the semifinals of the great event, "I believe in going to the finals... Overcoming limitations"

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Sang-sik (50), who has emerged as a Vietnamese hero, expressed his willingness to advance to the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup final.

Vietnam, led by head coach Kim Sang-sik, beat the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 3-2 after extra time in the quarterfinals of the U-23 Asian Cup at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the 17th (Korea time).

It was a dramatic victory. Vietnam, which is relatively weak, scored the first goal in the 39th minute of the first half to take the lead. He allowed a run three minutes later, but he scored his second goal in the 17th minute of the second half to win the game. The UAE scored an equalizer again six minutes after losing the point, leading the game to extra time.

Vietnam, which did not slow down its offense until the end of the game, beat the UAE by a goal in the 6th minute of extra time to advance to the semifinals.

He is poised to challenge even the highest record ever. Vietnam finished second under coach Park Hang-seo in 2018.

According to local reports such as Vietnam's 'VN', head coach Kim Sang-sik said in an interview after the match with the UAE, "Thanks to the sweat, effort and dedication of the team, I was able to advance to the semifinals," adding, "I will face new challenges and overcome my limitations in the next game." We will do our best to prepare," he said.

In addition, head coach Kim Sang-sik said, "I'm really proud of the Vietnamese players. I played my best for 120 minutes. "I deserved to win," he said. "I'm grateful to the Vietnamese fans who came to the stadium and to everyone who watched and cheered at home."

Head coach Kim Sang-sik then emphasized the competitiveness of Vietnam's U-23 team, saying, "Vietnam's U-23 is a team capable of competing at the Asian level."

The secret to winning overtime was "the players were very tired before the start of the overtime game." But I confirmed that it is in better condition than UAE. "I instructed the players to continue to be aggressive," he said, adding, "The players fired up their fighting spirit. "I burned the tactics brilliantly," he said.

Regarding the fact that the replacement card hit the mark, he said, "I saw the UAE side strikers lose their stamina. He tried to take advantage of the opportunity by putting in players with both speed and power. The strategy was effective," he pointed out.

Coach Kim Sang-sik's Vietnam will meet the winner of the Uzbekistan-China match in the semifinals. According to local media, head coach Kim Sang-sik will watch China and Uzbekistan in person.

Earlier, coach Kim Sang-sik led Vietnam's A national team and the U-23 national team to achieve great results. It won three consecutive tournaments, including the Southeast Asian Football Championship early last year, the AFF U23 Championship in July, and the SEA Games. Coach Kim Sang-sik is the first in Southeast Asian soccer history to lead all three major competitions to victory.

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*This content was translated by AI.