Coach Park Hang-seo and the goals for the Vietnamese team

The goal of earning points, not being inferior to rival Thailand, seems difficult to achieve and in the remaining 4 qualifying matches from now until the end of March (against Australia away, against China at home, against Oman at home and against Japan away), the remaining hope may only look to the match against China on the first day of the Lunar New Year (February 1, 2022).

AlthoughCoach Park Hang-seowant to "renew, start over" the Vietnam National Team right from the beginning of the new year 2022, but with some key players receiving penalty cards, injuries or contracting Covid-19, playing during the Tet holiday, welcoming spring... the ability to turn the situation around, regain motivation to compete and achieve some positive results against the continent's top opponents is very little, if not worse than before.

The ball dispute between players of the Vietnam team (red shirts) and the Thailand team in the first leg of the semi-final. Photo: VNN

From now until May 2022, when the SEA Games take place, Mr. Park Hang-seo will continue to "take care of two children", that is, both worrying about the qualifying campaign and preparing for the U23 Vietnam team. The ability of Mr. Park Hang-seo to complete the above two tasks is something that experts and fans urgently ask. And the fear of not being able to defend the SEA Games gold medal is growing, just watching the U23 Indonesia team under Mr. Shin Tae-yong perform at the recent AFF Cup shows that the story will not be simple if we are slow, do not find the right peak of form and do not find a way to make it impossible for the opponent to predict...

Therefore, the long-term and short-term goals of Mr. Park Hang-seo "thinking about the future" of VFF and the entire football community to enhance the responsibility of supporting and helping the teams, especially the teachers and coaching staff. First of all, we absolutely support Mr. Park Hang-seo in renewing and starting over from scratch for the Vietnam National Team, creating the best conditions for him to concentrate, train and compete as best as possible. Vietnamese football in 2022 has near-term and long-term goals and must be carefully calculated to prevent overload and loss of motivation as has happened before. The VFF's quick sharing of Mr. Park Hang-seo's duties after SEA Games 31 to stop leading U23 is necessary, and at the same time, we must quickly choose another Korean coach to take on the responsibility of leading U23 for the new challenging stage ahead.

Despite great efforts, the Vietnamese team still lost 0-2 to Thailand in the first leg of the AFF Cup 2020 semi-finals. Photo: AP

V. League 2022 must be successfully organized despite the inevitable difficulties. That is the stage, the place to find and select excellent factors to strengthen, renew, and supplement the forces for the national teams, especially when in the past 4 years, everything about Vietnamese football has been clearly seen in the eyes of opponents. Vietnamese football needs new factors, new directions to create a new playing field that is beneficial to us. Let's take care of the U17, U19 or U21 young buds to be the next nucleus for new tournaments when the movement in the region is worth us being faster, more creative and leading, getting ahead.

In addition, it is necessary to maintain the playground and field for youth football with full support for youth training centers such as Hanoi FC, Viettel, SLNA, HAGL and especially NutiFood Academy. There must be more Quoc Viet, Duc Viet, Xuan Tien... in the youth groups and let them train abroad, be used more in V. League and boldly bring them to the national teams to compete internationally...

The Vietnamese team held a tactical meeting right on the training ground. Photo: VFF

Obviously, Mr. Park is in charge of the team, but the responsibility is not only his own, but also the whole football industry. The "football house" of Vietnam needs a foundation from training centers, from clubs, to V. League, National Cup, participating in club-level tournaments in the continent and region. All are selected, raised to the level of the Vietnam National Team and U23 Vietnam, held by Mr. Park Hang-seo for nearly 12 more months, if he does not sign a new contract?

Whoever is assigned to "take charge" of the Vietnam National Team and Vietnam U23 Team must be someone who is knowledgeable about Vietnamese football, with abilities equal to or higher than Mr. Park Hang-seo or Mr. Shin Tae-yong. Hopefully, Mr. Park Hang-seo will once again prove himself to be a "magician" on the regional and continental stage, helping Vietnamese football get closer to the dream of the 2030 World Cup that is waiting ahead?