Coach Park Hang-seo and worries after Tet

A month after finishing second in Asia at the U-23 youth level, Mr. Park was worried that his players would be so elated with the praise on stage that they would forget their main job: playing football. The Korean coach always reminded his students not to be arrogant because the second place was just the beginning of many more difficult conquests.

In front of Park Hang-seo and his team is the Asian Games arena, aiming to win tickets to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics soon. That is also the big goal that on the day he signed a two-year contract with VFF, he promised to fulfill to raise the level of Vietnamese football.

It is not by chance that when Coach Park shared honestly with the Korean press during the Tet holiday in his homeland, he frankly said that he did not know what the future of Vietnamese football would be like.

Mr. Park admitted that he alone cannot change the entire football world without the cooperation of many groups and a long-term vision. Coach Park pointed out that in the U-23 Vietnam team that just finished second in the Asian Youth Championship, more than half of the players belong to the two clubs Hanoi and HA Gia Lai, who have spent 10 years training. This means that the development of youth football in Vietnam is not uniform and of real quality.

He also pointed out that the achievements of the U-23 Vietnam team in the recent tournament were higher than those of Japan and Korea, but that did not mean their level was higher than theirs.

Of course, the continental football powers after the U-23 Asian Cup finals have a different perspective on Park Hang-seo and his team. They respect Vietnamese football more, but are also more shy and cautious. Therefore, it will not be easy for Park in the Asian Games in August 2018 when big opponents carefully study his players and playing style, although VFF's desire in this tournament will surpass the miracle of four years ago when Coach Miura brought the Vietnamese Olympic team into the top 16 strongest teams.

Coach Park Hang-seo often emphasizes that the success of the Vietnam U-23 team in the Asian tournament is not a matter of luck, but it is not the biggest goal. This year, in addition to the Asian Games, Mr. Park must also conquer the AFF milestone with the national team, although in Southeast Asia, it is still a more standard measure of the level of a football nation.

Keep yourself underground

It is not without reason that Coach Park Hang-seo always warns his students not to be arrogant after the success in the U-23 Asian tournament. He has seen the excessive praise from many circles for the U-23 Vietnam team and behind it material temptations. Therefore, Coach Park affirmed that after Tet, only players who practice and compete with stable performance and good living conditions will have the opportunity to wear the national team's jersey.

On March 10, Coach Park Hang-seo will attend the opening match of V-League 2018 at Hang Day Stadium to re-examine the abilities of his players in Hanoi. He also asked his colleagues to select more excellent new faces and some players over 23 years old to prepare to call up the Vietnam Olympic team, expected a week later.