Coach Park Hang-seo and 'no one is left behind'

While rival U23 Indonesia announced the list of 20 officially registered players,U23 Vietnamhave not yet been "finalized" but will wait until before the opening day, ie 5/5, to know who is official and who is reserve. That is the cautious way of Mr. Park Hang-seo for a long time, but at the same time it also shows that there may be some positions that the teacher has to consider and calculate when time allows.

Looking at the list of 25 players going to Phu Tho, in addition to the three names Hung Dung, Hoang Duc and Tien Linh, it is quite surprising that some players like Van Dat or Duc Viet are present. Because Van Dat has been trusted for a long time but has been missing in the last 2 friendly matches against U20 Korea recently. Or Duc Viet, a young factor, only 18 years old of HAGL, has only emerged in the friendly tournament before V. League 2022, Emperor Quang Trung Cup and has just been called to the U23 Vietnam training camp recently?

Among those called up for the team, Hai Long’s name being on the team to go to Phu Tho is indisputable. The problem is that if Hai Long does not really integrate well, the fault must certainly lie with… the coach, not the player himself, who was “crossed out” for the first time and only called up for the training camp late?

Midfielder Hai Long (number 38) quickly integrated with his teammates at U23 Vietnam. Photo: VFF.

Of the 3 players from SLNA who were called up, only Van Lam was named in the U23 Vietnam defenders' "box", while Van Viet and Sy Hoang were planned for the Vietnam Olympic team, training in parallel in Hanoi to prepare for the U23 Asian Cup and ASIAD 2022. Van Viet clearly could not gain the trust of the coaching staff when his 45 minutes on the field in the first leg against U20 Korea did not leave an impression. Van Viet did not defend well on the flanks (at least 2-3 times he was passed by the opponent), and his participation in the attack was not bright, while those in the same position such as Van Xuan, Van Do or Tuan Tai were much more stable and unpredictable.

Meanwhile, when Van Lam and some other players entered the field in the second half, the U23 Vietnam team's game became brighter and more proactive. Van Lam was not overwhelmed by the strong opponent, was proactive and brought into play his strengths of playing comprehensively and tightly in the central midfield position, so being chosen was a happy and trustworthy thing.

But it will not be easy for this potential midfielder of SLNA to be on the final list of 20 people on May 5 because the names chosen for this defensive midfielder position are all very "heavyweight". That is Hoang Anh, who used to play for the Vietnam National Team, and Trong Long, who played impressively in the V.League. The problem is that it takes perseverance, pursuing to the end even if the opportunity is small, to be ready to accept the task, to be ready to explode like he exploded in the match SLNA won against Hanoi FC at Hang Day Stadium years ago with a beautiful goal by Van Lam himself.

Yesterday, the Vietnam Football Federation sent a document to SLNA requesting to call defender Mai Sy Hoang to the Vietnam U23 team to train in preparation for the 2022 AFC U23 Championship Finals. Photo: Chung Nguyen

In general, except for injured players like Xuan Quyet, Quang Thinh, Quang Vinh, Mr. Park Hang-seo has not left any of his students "behind", but on the contrary, he has given them opportunities to show themselves in the future. And Vietnamese football currently has no real stars playing abroad (except for the case of Saigon FC's U23 players who are studying in Japan), so Mr. Park Hang-seo does not have to worry about whether or not they can be called back to attend the SEA Games like other colleagues in the region. That is not a good thing because the trend of playing abroad will gradually become more popular, but it is currently a lucky thing for the Korean coach to easily concentrate his troops for long-term training to serve major campaigns.

In fact, Mr. Park Hang-seo is not harsh or lenient with anyone about serving national duties, about problems with clubs about releasing players, and absolutely no one has internal discipline or anything, so he always receives trust on and off the field, which is understandable and extremely valuable. And the matter of "no one is left behind" is ultimately what needs to be done, should be done to create motivation, maintain confidence for young players, for the future of Vietnamese football when in fact, although we are growing strongly, there is still a gap compared to our opponents, such as Thai football for example.

Van Xuan is an irreplaceable name in U23 Vietnam. Photo: VFF

And now is the time for all to turn into solidarity, dedication, readiness to overcome difficulties, surpass oneself to first play well, achieve the goal in the opening match against U23 Indonesia, who publicly declared to go to SEA Games to win the gold medal, to usurp the throne of U23 Vietnam. Going out and meeting a high mountain will be a real story at SEA Games 31 on the home field of coach Park Hang-seo and his team, but having to overcome, overcome early and... leave the opponent behind is the mandatory task of U23 Vietnam this time. While for all students, as has been seen for a long time, the teacher has always been a consistent and smooth practice of "no one is left behind".