Korean coaches flock to Vietnam to find jobs after Park Hang-seo's success

After Mr. Lee Heung-sil came to take over as Viettel coach,Mr. Chung Hae-seong returned to lead Ho Chi Minh City Club and Mr. Lee Tae-hoon came to HAGL, Vietnamese football welcomed 5Korean strategists working (including Mr. Park Hang-seo and Coach Lee Young-jin, his right-hand man who will lead U22 Vietnam to attend SEA Games 30 in the Philippines). This is the largest number of coaches from Korea working in Vietnam at the same time, not counting the assistant team.

The turning point named Park Hang-seo

Coach Chung Hae-seong is helping Ho Chi Minh City lead the rankings with 2 wins in a row. Photo: Nguyen Nhan

Previously, HAGL and B.Binh Duong had invited a Korean coach to sit in the coach's chair. Replacing Mr. Huynh Van Anh, Mr. Choi Yoon Kyum only had a rather faint impression. Coach Choi Yoon Kyum helped HAGL win 3rd place in V-League 2013 but the following season only ranked 9th.

Mr. Duc, along with promoting the generation of Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong to play in V.League 2015, said goodbye to Mr. Choi. French coach Guillaume Graechen, who has been involved in youth training in the Mountain City for many years, was promoted to replace him.

Meanwhile, Coach Cho Yoon Hwan became the coach of Binh Duong Club in the second phase of the 2012 season, replacing Coach Dang Tran Chinh. That season, the team only finished 6th and in April 2013, a series of 6 consecutive losses caused him to let Yoon Hwan lose his position and Mr. Le Thuy Hai was invited to replace him.

For a long time, Korean football has always been among the top countries in the continent, but until now, no Korean coach has been successful with Vietnamese football at the club level. Everything changed when Coach Park Hang-seo appeared and had a completely successful year with Vietnamese football when he continuously made surprising achievements, beyond expectations.

He brought home the title of U23 Asian runner-up, 4th place in ASIAD 2018, champion of AFF Cup 2018 and brought the national team to the Quarterfinals of 2019 AFC Asian Cup. This is the best introduction for V.League clubs about the level of Korean coaches.

In addition to bringing personal fame, Mr. Park Hang-seo's success has opened up career trends for his Korean colleagues to come to Vietnamese football. Not to mention that Korean culture has many similarities, which makes Vietnamese players quite comfortable when working with coaches.

Delicious, nutritious, cheap

At the club level, we must mention former HAGL Technical Director Chung Hae-seong and Coach Lee Tae-hoon, former Cambodia National Team Coach and recently Mr. Lee Heung-sil and his Korean colleagues who have come to Viettel. Although the salary has not been disclosed, it is believed that it will be difficult to exceed the 22,000 USD/month of Mr. Park Hang-seo, when he took charge of the national team. That is also the reason why V.League teams like to invite Korean coaches, they meet the criteria of "delicious, nutritious, cheap", and are knowledgeable about continental football.

Coach Park Hang-seo is expected to lead the Vietnamese team to the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup for the first time in history. Photo: VFF

Mr. Lee Tae-hoon has 7 years of working with Cambodian football at the national team level, but has not made a big mark, and has never worked at any club, but was still trusted by Mr. Duc to invite him to the Mountain City.

Even 60-year-old strategist Chung Hae-seong was not successful in his position as Technical Director at HAGL but was still invited by Ho Chi Minh City Club to coach. That shows that the names of Korean coaches are "quite hot" in V.League.

Coach Park Hang-seo is expected to lead the Vietnamese team to the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup for the first time in history, where Asia is expected to be awarded 8.5 tickets by FIFA. Meanwhile, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has assigned the target of winning the 30th SEA Games gold medal in the Philippines in November this year toCoach Lee Young-jin.

Viettel, Ho Chi Minh City and HAGL certainly do not need to invite Korean coaches to worry about relegation. Perhaps HAGL technical director Lee Tae-hoon will have some less pressure because the person in charge of the mountain town team's main technical skills is still coach Duong Minh Ninh.

In fact, after 2 matches, Coach Chung Hae-seong's HCM City is leading the rankings with 2 wins, HAGL and Viettel also have 3 points. Coach Chung Hae-seong's mark on the day he led HCM City to a 2-1 victory over HAGL in Plei-ku was highly appreciated by experts. Viettel's 2-1 victory over Thanh Hoa also somewhat satisfied the fans who love the army team.

If the Korean coaches are successful, there will continue to be "invasion" of Korean coaches onto Vietnamese football fields in the near future.