Coach Park Hang Seo: I want to change prejudices and explore new abilities of players

- Hello Mr. Park, congratulations on your second place in the U23 Asian Championship with the Vietnam team. But before coming to the tournament in China, to be honest, what did you expect and what goals did you set for yourself and your students?

Hoang Long, 41 years old, Cau Giay - Hanoi.

Coach Park Hang-seo:

To be honest, before leaving Hanoi for China, we did not set such a high target. The leaders of the federation said that the target was to get three points, which means to win at least one match. But as head coach, we cannot say that. We tried our best in each match. But in the first match, we played against Korea, a strong team and my hometown. It was a very difficult match, but to be honest, I wanted to win that match. Unfortunately, we did not do it. Things got easier in the following matches, and as you know, we beat Australia and went on.

The AFC U23 Championship has 16 teams, of which Vietnam ranked 14th before entering the tournament. In Group D, we were only fourth out of four teams, based on the rankings before the tournament. The AFC also assessed that Vietnam’s chances of passing the group stage were quite low. Therefore, we can only focus on each match in front of us. In particular, the match against Syria in the final round is very important.

- Mr. Park Hang-seo, you once said: "Vietnamese players do not know they are on par with Japan and Korea". How did you discover this and how did you let the players know about that parity so they could be confident in training, competing and winning?

Do Thanh Huy, 50 years old, A Luoi, Thua Thien Hue

Coach Park Hang-seo:

Perhaps there was a misunderstanding in understanding my answer. I remember saying: "Vietnamese players have elements that Japanese or Korean players do not have. For example, speed, technique or a little bit of physical strength." I did not say that Vietnamese players were on par with Japanese or Korean players. Because I have never even coached Japanese players.

- Back to the time you signed the contract with VFF, how did the invitation from Vietnam come to you, and why did you accept?

Pham Duc, 48 years old, Thanh Hoa

Coach Pang Hang-seo:

I was quite surprised by this offer, because I had never thought about leading Vietnam before. I had led some professional clubs in Korea and had intended to go abroad to coach. At that time, my agent said that VFF was interested in me. If it were a professional club, I would definitely hesitate, but this was a national team. Actually, at that time, I was leading a club playing in a lower league in my country. Therefore, I accepted the offer to come to Vietnam. Fortunately, the work progressed well.

Before starting the job, I didn’t have much information about Vietnam. I knew about Xuan Truong who was playing in Gangwon. I also knew that Vietnamese football was developing very quickly, and I considered this as a challenge as well as the last opportunity of my career.

By the way, I also want to ask VFF why they chose me, because at that time, in Korea there were many people who were better and younger than me. And I really don't know exactly why I was chosen.

About the final job I want. Actually, now, in Korea there are many young and talented coaches. I should be at the age of retirement even though I have a lot of experience. I have long cherished the dream of going abroad... However, at this age, going abroad is still a difficult challenge for me.

- You once said that assistant Lee Young-jin was your "brain". How did you convince Mr. Lee to follow you to work in Vietnam?

Hue Nguyen, 34 years old, Ninh Binh

Coach Park Hang-seo:

Lee is someone I have known for a long time, since we were playing at Hwangso Club. When I became a coach, he was still a player. After that, we both worked as coaches in Korea. Since we were young, we have known each other well, like seniors and juniors. If I were to coach a Vietnamese club, I would not invite Lee to follow me, but with the national team, the pressure is quite high, so I invited him. He happily agreed. When we came to Vietnam, we focused on diligence, even though results were the priority. If we were not successful, the image of Korean diligence would still be a lesson for junior coaches in Korea. The two of us were very compatible with that idea.

During the competition, we had prepared many scenarios. But the match happened with fast-paced situations, we had to make urgent decisions. Mr. Lee was the one who gave advice at that time. He always grasped the decision I wanted to make. This result had a great contribution from Mr. Lee, as well as his colleagues in the Vietnamese coaching staff.

Please don't misunderstand. Before any match, we have many meetings, including me and my assistants. Everyone has many opinions, before Mr. Lee summarizes the opinions and gives me the decision. The Vietnamese assistant team has worked very hard to provide me with information about Vietnamese culture, and their contribution to this tournament is great.

- How do you evaluate the role of Technical Director Jurgen Gede in the last tournament?

Song Jiang, 32 years old, Nam Dinh

Coach Park Hang-seo:

The role of the Technical Director in Vietnam is a bit different from that in Korea. His house is near me, he is my neighbor. He is good at English but I am not, so whenever we talk, we usually talk briefly. Mr. Gede used to work in the Middle East and West Asia, so he understands the players here very well. Therefore, he provides me with information about the players in these countries in the tournament. In general, Mr. Gede is someone who is interested in the development of Vietnamese football.

- How do you choose players for the U23 Asian tournament?

Dinh Thanh An, 42 years old, Binh Tan, Ho Chi Minh City

Coach Park Hang-seo:

Before coming to Vietnam, I did not have much information about the players. I had a habit of selecting players by going directly to watch them play, along with assistant Lee. However, watching hundreds of players to select players for U23 Vietnam was impossible. Therefore, the assistant team as well as Technical Director Jurgen Gede also played a consulting role, helping me select the squad.

Besides watching the players live, I also pay attention to each person's moral character and living habits. I only choose a player if he has a healthy lifestyle and treats people well.

- Hello Mr. Park. May I ask what tactics and therapies you have used to help the U23 Vietnam team transform in just a short time since becoming the head coach of the team?

Nguyen Thach Tien, 33 years old, Dong Anh, Hanoi

Coach Park Hang-seo:

You should not judge me as having completely changed the image of Vietnamese football. It is not to that extent. In fact, the current Vietnamese team is still not perfect, not yet at its peak. I always try to apply all the knowledge and experience from decades of working in Korea to Vietnamese football. I have always kept that determination from the beginning, to pass it on to the players.

- In my opinion, self-belief and the desire to win are the key factors that bring success to the U23 team this time. So what did you and the coaching staff do to inspire the players in such a short time?

Tran Huy Hien, 39 years old, Sa Duc City, Dong Thap

Coach Park Hang-seo:

I don't know if my expression is correct. In life, we often get stressed. I'm far from home and miss home too. But every morning, seeing the eyes of the players gives me a lot of motivation. I don't have that in Korea. Not only me, but all the assistant team feel the same way. We don't talk to each other but we all feel that we have to try our best. I think there is a lot of potential in Vietnamese players. I don't understand why previous generations have the prejudice that Vietnamese players are physically weak and inferior to players from other places. I want to change that prejudice and explore their new abilities.

Coach Park shed tears when talking about Vietnamese players being looked down upon by foreigners because of their weak physical strength.

- Thank you very much for your contributions to Vietnamese football in the recent tournament. Could you please tell us more about the physical strength of the Vietnamese players in the past 120-minute matches?

Hoang Long An, 32 years old, Buon Ma Thuot, Dak Lak

Coach Park Hang-seo:

Before taking over as coach of the Vietnam national team, many people told me that their physical strength was quite weak. The truth is that during the short training period of the national team, there was no way to improve their physical strength. But I discovered that my students were very fast and skillful. The most important thing was that I changed the tactical diagram. Previously, coaches often used 4 defenders, but playing like that, we were likely to lose. Therefore, I changed to a 3-defender tactic. It overcomes the disadvantages of the players' physical strength.

I also cannot understand why people equate small stature with poor physical strength. In football, small players are very fast. Moreover, Vietnamese players are very smart. They understand my tactics very well. In addition, we also discovered that the upper body of Vietnamese players is quite weak. Therefore, I asked the players to go to the federation gym to practice about a month before the U23 Asian tournament.

To be honest, we don't have any special methods for physical fitness. I would like to emphasize that Vietnamese players are not weak in physical fitness.