Discipline and 'steel' spirit of Vietnam National Team under Coach Park Hang-seo (part 4)

First, Coach Park Hang-seo revealed that during the match, players are allowed not to use honorifics (respectful words) in the match. If used on the field, it will make it impossible for players to communicate with each other quickly and effectively.

On the other hand, Coach Park stipulates that no one is allowed to pull a chair making noise or pick their teeth without covering their mouth, no one is allowed to wear slippers in places that could cause injury, and training plans are kept secret before being announced.

Disciplinary regulations in the Vietnam National Team are also highly respected to the point that if any member violates discipline in daily activities such as being late for practice, forgetting to bring training equipment or committing any other mistake, they will be fined about 1 million VND to the team fund. Once, Coach Park Hang-seo was fined when his phone rang during a team meeting and Coach Park still happily paid the fine.

Coach Park Hang-seo is very happy and pleased with the affection of Vietnamese fans. Photo: VFF

Mr. Park said: “In my team, during group meetings or when eating, you are not allowed to use your phone. Just ringing the bell will result in a penalty. This means not to disturb others. It is true that I was penalized because I forgot. It is not that I answered the phone, but that I let the bell ring. I am a member of the team, so when I make a mistake, I also have to pay a penalty according to the team's regulations.”

Coach Park is not only fair and equal but also very strict. The players' going out during training time, although free, is also very strict. Coach Park only said one sentence: "Whoever wants to go out at any time is free, that is each person's business, but I cannot guarantee that you will be able to come back in."

One of the slogans that coach Park Hang-seo has mentioned many times is “We are Vietnam, we are one”. When seeing his players decline, coach Park only needs to ask one question: “Have you forgotten the Vietnamese spirit?”

This saying is based on the elements of unity, self-respect, intelligence, not giving up and when the leader sets out an initiative and a goal, he finds every way to achieve that goal. The players must be together as one in life as well as in training and competition, without exception.

Coach Park Hang-seo has instilled in the Vietnamese players the spirit of never giving up. Photo: Archive

Before Coach Park came to Vietnam, he realized that the players' spirit was often depressed. Mr. Park confided: "When I first took over the job, the players used their phones a lot. During team meetings, there were some people who did not listen to what I said but only focused on looking at their phone screens. Even when watching the match, they did not watch but did other things."

Coach Park Hang-seo asked psychologists and experts and came to the conclusion why the players acted like that. And that is the problem of defeatism. When the players think that their team is not a strong team, they will lose, have no right to win, and will certainly be very negligent when practicing.

“If players think they are not capable and lose, it will hurt them, because they do not want to admit that their ability is weak. That is why they look at their phones. According to football psychologists, in the subconscious of players, they often intentionally do other actions to escape the hurt in their self-esteem when they lose,” Coach Park explained.

Coach Park Hang-seo is strict but very close to the players. Photo: Archive

When the players made mistakes, Coach Park Hang-seo did not speak in front of everyone but met with each player individually. After each training session, Coach Park and his assistants stayed behind to clean up the training equipment. Later, the players became more aware and stayed behind to help the coaches. Just like that, the team spirit became deeper.

Coach Park Hang-seo has a very special habit. Before each home match, after a press conference with a player, he often takes that player home and drinks tea together. Mr. Park's house is next to the headquarters of the Vietnam Football Federation and he signals that he has great confidence in that player.

“An interesting thing is that the way the players play football is revealed even when drinking tea. Although it is not my house, there are players who still hold the door very carefully, then there are players who smile brightly while pouring me a cup of tea, and there are players who carefully listen to my story while conversing attentively. The players who I invite to drink tea like that play very well the next day and this really touches me,” said Coach Park.

Coach Park Hang-seo in a recent training session. Photo: VFF

The Korean coach also talked in detail about the strengths, weaknesses, and future development of Vietnamese players. Accordingly, the strengths of Vietnamese players are agility, responsiveness, dexterity, and good technique. If these advantages are promoted, the possession rate will be high and the team will quickly become a good attacking football team. That is why coach Park Hang-seo has banned players from touching the ball more than twice.

It can be said that Vietnam's defeatist mentality completely disappeared after the AFC U23 Championship. Passing the group stage in China and including the final match, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team played extra time in 3 consecutive matches against Iraq, Qatar and Uzbekistan. However, Coach Park was not inferior in physical strength and pushed back the opponent in the extra time match.

Once, Coach Park Hang-seo asked player Nguyen Quang Hai: "Why do people say I have poor physical strength?". Quang Hai said he had no idea. Coach Park affirmed that, because public opinion and predecessors said so, he has thought the same way since then.

To be continued...

Behind the breathtaking victories of Coach Park Hang-seo with Vietnamese football (part 3)

(Baonghean.vn) - In the previous two articles, we have come to Coach Park's secrets on how to handle cultural conflicts, improve physical strength and overcome the weaknesses of the players. In this article, we will come to a special training method that helped the Vietnam National Team win in a thrilling way.