Coach Park Hang-seo 'burst into tears' at the ceremony to thank Vietnamese fans

This is the first time after more than 5 years working in Vietnam that the Korean strategist has been able to share freely and openly with fans. Only 30 fans attended the program (according to registration with the representative company of Coach Park Hang-seo). They also prepared meaningful gifts for Mr. Park Hang-seo, and had a very happy interaction with Mr. Park.

After ending his contract with VFF (January 31, 2023), Coach Park Hang-seo organized a meeting with fans in Hanoi on the evening of February 2. Photo: Hai Hoang

At the beginning of the meeting, Coach Park Hang-seo shared: “Thank you everyone for coming to me. I also apologize for not having much time with everyone recently. I see many familiar faces that I have met at the football fields recently. I ended my contract as head coach of the Vietnam national team 2 days ago. Today is the first event where I am no longer the head coach of the Vietnam national team but just an ordinary person named Park Hang-seo. No longer a coach, many fans still came to see me today. I am very happy..I have no words to describe my feelings at the moment. Thanks to everyone's support and affection, I have become the happiest football coach in the world for the past 5 years. When I first came to Vietnam, I did not think I would receive such great support from everyone."

Coach Park Hang Seo meets familiar fans of Vietnamese football. Photo: Hai Hoang

After more than an hour of interacting, chatting and recalling memories with the fans, Coach Park Hang-seo sent his thanks through a letter. The Korean coach was moved:"When I came here, I did not expect to receive such great support from everyone. I still remember the feeling of regret when the team only won the Silver Medal at the 2018 U23 Asian Cup, people still cheered and paraded on the streets. At that time, I was more insecure than happy, because I am a coach who has experienced many successes and failures. I know that fame can disappear like smoke in the blink of an eye. Therefore, we cannot be arrogant."

Coach Park will remain in Vietnam and he will cooperate to open a youth football training academy. Photo: Hai Hoang

“During my 5 years as coach of the Vietnam national team, I frankly admit that I have not had a single moment of regret. Because I have lived my life to the fullest. And I love my players very much. Everyone knows that the team cannot win with just the coach. The victory that everyone sees is not only thanks to me and the players, but also the logistics and the team behind. I always respect and love everyone very much. Every time the team is rewarded, we also share it equally with the team members. I get to work with the players that I love and with extremely responsible staff,” said coach Park Hang-seo.

Regarding his future plans, Coach Park said he likes to explore Vietnam and plans to open a youth training academy: “I am also planning to cooperate to open a youth training academy for Vietnamese football. I will use my experience as a coach in both Vietnam and Korea to contribute to Vietnamese football in the future.”

“I will be in Vietnam until June, then I plan to return to Korea. It is very cold in Korea now. I will wait until June when it is warm and then I will return. The weather in Hanoi is very nice now. Don't worry, I have a house in Hanoi so I will travel between Hanoi and Vietnam. At that time, it depends on the plane ticket, but that is probably not a problem," Coach Park Hang-seo said about the reason why he has not returned to Korea after the end of his contract.

Finally, Coach Park choked up as he said goodbye: “Thanks to everyone, I ended my term with satisfaction. During the past 5 years, I spent all my time on tournaments and contributing to Vietnamese football, so I didn’t have much time to meet everyone. But now I’m a normal person, so I hope to meet everyone more in the future.”