Coach Kim Sang-sik's Father Passes Away: The Final Flight from ASEAN Cup Peak to Incheon

On the afternoon of September 12, at a hospital in Incheon, South Korea, an 84-year-old man named Kim Jong-won — father of Vietnam national team head coach Kim Sang-sik — took his last breath. No referee's whistle, no ball rolling across the pitch, no roaring stands. Just a departure in silence, nearly two weeks after his son lifted the AFF Cup 2026 trophy at My Dinh Stadium. The distance between glory and loss, in football, is sometimes no more than a flight from Hanoi to Seoul. On August 26, Kim Sang-sik and the Vietnam national team clinched the AFF Cup 2026 with a 2-1 victory over Thailand at My Dinh. He raised the trophy, smiled for the cameras, then bowed his head. In the dressing room at that moment, he may already have known that his 84-year-old father was hospitalized in Incheon. After the final, right there at the press conference, Kim Sang-sik publicly disclosed his father's health condition. That was not a tactical statement or a media move — it was the confession of a son carrying two burdens at once: professional and personal. He did not leave immediately. He stayed to finish the necessary work with the Vietnam Football Federation — VFF — before departing. This is a detail many overlook when reporting on his father's passing: Kim Sang-sik did not abruptly abandon the team. He arranged everything, like a head coach still thinking about the defensive line before thinking about his family. Then he flew back to Incheon, to his father's bedside, staying there through the final days. On September 12, Kim Jong-won passed away. The VFF issued an official statement that same day. Chairman Tran Quoc Tuan sent a personal message of condolence. Federation leaders, all departments, acted swiftly — not because of public pressure, but because they understood this moment deserved proper respect. A team, when standing at the top, must sometimes know to pause before things larger than football. I have been following the Vietnam national team through multiple foreign coaches. Since my first time sitting in the corridors of My Dinh Stadium back in 2026, when the team was still struggling to find its identity under foreign strategists, through the Park Hang-seo era and now Kim Sang-sik. What I have realized after nearly two decades of observation is: a national team is not only built with players and tactics, but also shaped by how its leaders treat people — even in moments of loss. The VFF handled this situation correctly. A fast statement, condolences from the highest level, no silence for public speculation to fill. This is a sign of a maturing organization. In the past, with other foreign coaches, it was not always like this. There were moments when the Federation stayed silent too long, and those gaps were filled with rumors. This time, they did not let that happen. Kim Sang-sik, 49 years old this year, has been the head coach of the Vietnam national team since early 2026. Before coming to Vietnam, he managed clubs in the K League — a league I have closely followed throughout more than a decade living in South Korea. When news of his appointment spread in South Korean football circles, the reaction was fairly cautious: a coach who had never led a national team before, moving to a completely different football environment. Many were skeptical. But Kim Sang-sik did not say much — he just worked, in silence, until the AFF Cup 2026 trophy answered everything. The victory over Thailand in the final was not accidental. I rewatched the match footage multiple times. The way Vietnam pressed high from the opponent's half in the opening 20 minutes, the way the two central midfielders circulated the ball to stretch Thailand's defensive line, the way the fullback pushed up to deliver a cross in the 34th minute — all showed a team meticulously prepared tactically. Not a team playing on instinct, but a team assembled by a tactical mind who had thoroughly studied the opponent. But that victory now sits somewhere else in Kim Sang-sik's memory. It is still there — the trophy, the crowd's roar, the moments he embraced the players on the pitch — but it is placed alongside a larger void. The father he came home to visit in those final days, the one he could not be beside throughout the AFF Cup campaign because of football and the expectations placed on him, is now gone. In the coming days, while Kim Sang-sik handles funeral arrangements in South Korea, the Vietnam national team will operate under the management of the assistant coaching staff. This is standard procedure in international football: the head coach is absent, assistants handle the training program and preparation for upcoming matches. For a team that just won a regional championship, this is not a disaster — it is a test of the system's stability. The Korean assistants Kim Sang-sik brought from the K League are believed to have solid professional competence, sufficient to maintain the workflow during his absence. However, this is also when a question no one dares to ask publicly must be raised: will this flight from the pinnacle back to Incheon change something in Kim Sang-sik? A head coach who, after achieving a major title, must face profound personal loss — sometimes that is when they begin to question the real meaning of everything they are pursuing. I have witnessed this with others. The answer is not always to continue. The VFF, with its current stance, is doing the right thing. They are not pressuring, not rushing the schedule, not demanding his return before the time is right. Chairman Tran Quoc Tuan, in his condolence message, emphasized respect for the coach's family — a small choice but one with significant weight in how a football federation communicates with its key personnel. The Vietnamese football market is at a stage where the credibility of a foreign coach — particularly a Korean coach — directly influences investment confidence in domestic football. The Park Hang-seo era established a high standard — he not only helped the national team win, but also built an emotional connection between fans and the team. Kim Sang-sik, with the AFF Cup 2026 victory, is on the right path to continuing that legacy. But success on the pitch and success in the dressing room are two different things. And the event of September 12 just added a human variable to that equation that no tactical formula can measure in advance. I stayed behind at My Dinh Stadium on the night of the AFF Cup 2026 final, after most of my colleagues had left. I sat in the press box, watching the Vietnamese technical staff equipment, watching security guards quietly closing the gates. A woman on the support staff — I did not know her name — was still there, sitting alone in the stands, holding a small Vietnamese flag. She did not wave, did not cry. She just sat there, the way the quiet ones always remain after everyone else has dispersed. Football, in the end, is not only about the ones who score. It is also about the ones who stay behind.