Nguyen Xuan Son is absent, coach Kim Sang Sik is worried that the Vietnamese team's attack will not score.

Not only a topic of discussion among fans or experts, the absence of Nguyen Xuan Son is truly becoming a difficult problem that Coach Kim Sang Sik must solve in the stormy away trip to Malaysia.

And the worrying thing is not just the lack of a striker who can score goals, but the lack of a true leader in the playing style of the Vietnamese team.

It is hard to deny the influence of the player wearing the number 12 shirt. The telling numbers paint a clear picture: in the 5 matches in which Xuan Son participated, the Vietnamese team won all, scoring a total of 15 goals and only conceding 4. This striker alone has directly contributed to 9 goals, 7 goals and 2 assists. That is not only a high efficiency, but also a testament to his irreplaceable role in the attack. Every time Xuan Son touches the ball, fans have high expectations. Every move of his brings sharpness, opens up space for teammates, and creates breakthrough plays that few people on the team can do.

When Xuan Son was absent, everything became clearly different. Except for two big wins against Laos, an opponent that was already too familiar and often "bullied", in most of the remaining matches, the Vietnamese team often scored only one goal, even in some matches without scoring. Specifically, losing 1-2 to Thailand (friendly), drawing 1-1 with India, winning 1-0 against Indonesia (at the SEA Games when using the U22 squad), drawing 1-1 with the Philippines and narrowly winning 2-1 against Cambodia.

Notably, in the last 3 matches, Vietnam's attack line has almost "disappeared". Despite winning against Cambodia and Laos, the impression of the players is quite faint, while the internal match with U22 Vietnam also only had 2 goals scored and not from the main strikers.

That situation shows that the Vietnamese team is facing serious problems in finishing and creating breakthroughs in the front line. In that difficult time, the performance of the remaining players is not very positive. Tien Linh, who used to be the number one hope of the team, is going through an unprecedented decline. After 9 rounds of V.League, he has only scored one goal. In the national team, he has also not scored in 3 consecutive matches, something that never happened when Xuan Son was still playing.

Striker Tuan Hai is highly regarded by coach Kim Sang Sik despite his energetic and consistent performance at Hanoi FC, but in the national team, he has only scored 1 goal in his last 13 appearances. Those numbers are not enough to inspire confidence in fans, especially when the upcoming match is a crucial match against Malaysia, a tough opponent, and he is playing at home.

With Xuan Son suffering a knee injury and likely to miss the entire first leg of the 2025 V.League, the task of finding a replacement for him has become extremely urgent. Coach Kim Sang Sik may have to consider new solutions, such as giving opportunities to young faces like Nguyen Quoc Viet, who has shown potential at the U23 level, or boldly pulling an attacker up to play as a "false 9" to create a tactical surprise.

Modern football is not only a playground for sophisticated tactical schemes or calculations on the coaching board. It is also a battle of people where each individual, with their class and inspiration, can decide the outcome of an entire match. For the Vietnamese team at this time, the absence of Nguyen Xuan Son is not only the loss of a key striker, but also the loss of a catalyst that makes the attack more dangerous, sharp and unpredictable than ever.

Xuan Son's influence goes far beyond mere statistics. He is not only a goalscorer, but also a energizer, a link-up player, a space-maker, a skillful passer and a difference-maker. Without him, Vietnam would not only lack a finisher, but also a true leader in attack who can lift the team's spirits with a classy pass or a powerful shot at the right time.

Cong Phuong was injured, coach Kim Sang Sik suddenly called the name of HAGL's 'jewel'? Gongon14:07:54 04/06/2025Coach Kim Sang Sik has just made a surprise move when replacing Cong Phuong with a promising young talent of the Hoang Anh family club, clearly showing the ambition to renew the squad and towards sustainable development in the future.