Coach Kim returns to Korea after father's death: Vietnam's seven-day gap before ASEAN Cup 2026

One week. Exactly seven days. That is the gap that has just opened on Vietnam's preparation path for ASEAN Cup 2026, after the Vietnam Football Federation confirmed that head coach Kim Sang Sik has departed for South Korea to mourn his father. For most of the press, this will be a story about a devoted coach enduring private grief. That is not wrong. But if we stop there, fans will miss the more important question: how does a national team operate when the man who designs every tactical session is not on the pitch?

I have followed Vietnamese football since the days when pitches still smelled of earth, not money, and I have seen enough lessons about power vacuums. When numbers speak, I listen; when the crowd roars, I count again from scratch.

Context: ASEAN Cup around the corner, and a sad announcement

ASEAN Cup 2026 kicks off on September 24 and runs until October 5. Vietnam sits in Group A alongside Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan. The opening match is expected in the first week of the tournament, and with a short group stage format, every match carries decisive weight for first or second place.

Coach Kim Sang Sik was appointed in May 2026. Over the past two years, he has led both the senior national team and the U23 side, delivering steady results in regional tournaments and progress on the continental stage. He is highly rated for constructing clear tactical structures and disciplined defending.

According to VFF, the federation president personally encouraged Kim to return home to mourn as soon as the news arrived, reflecting Vietnamese football leadership's understanding of the head coach's personal loss. Kim's father passed away at the age of 84.

Kim is expected to stay in South Korea for about a week. But looking at the specific schedule, we must account for margin of error. The flight from South Korea to Vietnam takes about five hours, plus travel from his hometown to the airport, check-in, and recovery from a long flight. In reality, the time Kim can be fully present on the training pitch could fall on September 21 or 22, just two to three days before the opening match.

The uncomfortable truth: no replacement plan has been announced

VFF's statement mentions Kim's absence and emphasises the federation's sympathy. But no assistant coach has been designated to lead training sessions. No announcement about adjusted training schedules has been made. No information exists about who will lead the players during those seven days.

In professional football, when a head coach is absent for family reasons, the standard international protocol is temporarily transferring operational authority to the first assistant, while making a public announcement to prevent rumours. European clubs typically handle this very clearly: 48 hours before absence, the club announces who will sit in the hot seat for matches and who will lead training sessions.

The fact that VFF only issued a condolence statement without an accompanying professional plan suggests one of two possibilities: either a plan exists but has not been disclosed, or the team has genuinely left a power vacuum in its most important phase.

I lean towards the second possibility. Not because VFF is weak, but because the way a Southeast Asian football federation handles emergency situations often lacks systematic rigour. Professional decisions get delayed, rather than being announced as part of an operating culture. In 33 years of observing this industry, I have repeatedly seen regional federations react through media reflex, not through pre-prepared plans.

Tactical analysis: the price of seven days

The second concern lies in the nature of Vietnam's tactical structure under Kim. In a June analysis, I warned that the national team relies heavily on a high-pressing structure designed by him. That structure requires the head coach's continuous presence on the training pitch, because it needs adjustment per opponent in each session.

Without Kim during those seven days, assistants can maintain the foundational structure, but cannot adjust it flexibly. The consequence may be visible in the first match against Pakistan: the team will enter with a fixed framework, rather than one that fluctuates with the opponent. Against Thailand, the highest-rated opponent in the group, this absence is even more dangerous.

This is the point that emotional media will not mention. Saying it is not to diminish Kim's grief, but to remind that football is a professional sport, and every gap has its price.

Looking across the region, we can reference how other federations handled similar situations. In 2026, Thailand's head coach was absent for a week before the King's Cup for family reasons. The Football Association of Thailand immediately announced a replacement and kept the entire training curriculum unchanged. The result: Thailand still played according to structure, though they did not win the title.

At a higher level, in 2026, coach Gareth Southgate had to return home mid-camp with England. The FA immediately announced that Steve Holland would lead training sessions for 48 hours. That transparency helped quell rumours and maintain player psychological stability.

The common thread in both examples is operational transparency. This is something Vietnamese football still lacks to some degree, and something we can observe clearly in the coming seven days.

Contrarian angle: where might I be wrong?

I could be wrong on three points.

First, I assume no professional plan has been prepared. It is entirely possible VFF already has a detailed plan but chose not to disclose it out of respect for Kim's and his family's privacy. That would be a culturally reasonable choice, and if so, my analysis of a power vacuum is inaccurate.

Second, I assume Vietnam needs Kim on the training pitch to operate well. In reality, many top teams have proven that tactical structures can be maintained by the coaching staff if the system is deeply embedded. Vietnam under Kim has been operating for two years and may have reached that level.

Third, I may be underestimating the positive effect of collective sympathy. If players know Kim is suffering a loss, they may play with higher motivation. This is a real psychological effect in elite sport, though hard to measure in numbers.

What I am waiting for

Seven days is not a large number for a 12-day tournament. But for a team that needs stability, seven days can be the distance between the semi-finals and the group stage. A sports bubble does not burst with a bang; it deflates with a sigh.

I am not waiting for a ceremonial announcement from VFF. I am waiting for a professional announcement: who will lead training in those seven days, and will the curriculum change? The answer to that question will say more than any victory about how far Vietnamese football has matured.

I have watched football since pitches still smelled of earth, not money. And in those 33 years, I have learned one thing: football federations do not lose because they lack good players. They lose because they lack professional process.