The story of 3 foreign coaches of Vietnamese football

An Thanh• December 15, 2019 09:14

(Baonghean.vn) - But those who have followed Vietnamese football for the past 6 decades all believe that Karl-Heinz Weigang, Henrique Calisto and Park Hang-seo are the names that have left the most impression.

Starting from 1995, Vietnamese football hired foreign coaches, the first one was Mr. Edson Tavares, a Brazilian. At the Independence Cup in 1995, he led both Vietnam 1 and Vietnam 2 teams to the semi-finals. While Vietnamese football was ecstatic with the initial success, he mysteriously left "without fanfare" after only 42 days of work.

But when he returned to Vietnamese football in 2004, he only lasted 9 months and VFF had to terminate his contract in the middle of the Tiger Cup 2004. Coach Tran Van Khanh was appointed to replace Mr. Tavares to lead the remaining matches in this tournament. Besides the Brazilian coach, there were also coaches Alfred Riedl and Henrique Calisto who were also the coaches of the Vietnamese national team twice.

Imprint of AFF Cup 2008

Coach Riedl was the one who brought home the most medals, but Coach H.Calisto was the first coach to bring the AFF Cup 2008 championship to Vietnamese football. The Portuguese man's "first love" with VFF only lasted from August to December 2004 with the achievement: Third place in Tiger Cup 2002. This coach, who is known for his hot temper, led the team to 10 matches, won 5, drew 3, lost 2, associated with the names Tai Em and Minh Phuong.

Chức vô địch AFF Cup 2008 là đỉnh cao trong sự nghiệp cầm quân của HLV Calisto ở Việt Nam. Ảnh: Zing.
The 2008 AFF Cup championship was the pinnacle of coach Calisto's coaching career in Vietnam. Photo: Zing.
The 2-year and 10-month "remarriage" from 2008 to 2011 was considered a successful contract, when he and the Vietnamese team conquered the regional peak for the first time. In early 2011, he terminated his contract and paid compensation to join Muang Thong United, which left its mark with the titles: AFF Cup 2008 Champion, SEA Games 2009 Silver Medal, AFF Cup 2010 Semi-Final. He led the team to 32 matches, won 9, drew 11, lost 12, with a score of 38-41.

Most successful

With the SEA Games 30 gold medal and before that the AFF Cup 2018 gold medal, Coach Park Hang-seo is the foreign coach with the most achievements up to this point. Not only that, the Korean coach is considered to be open, friendly and has won the affection of many students, colleagues, the press and Vietnamese fans.

Ông Park Hang- Séo là người thành công nhất với bóng đá Việt Nam. Ảnh VFF
Mr. Park Hang-seo is the most successful person in Vietnamese football. Photo: VFF
Under his guidance, names like Quang Hai, Van Duc, Tien Linh, Que Ngoc Hai have fully developed their abilities. Recently, he has discovered new factors like Duc Chien, Duc Chinh, Hoang Duc for U22 Vietnam. Under Mr. Park, the U22, U23, and national teams have played 29 matches against Southeast Asian teams, winning 24, drawing 5, and not losing any match.

When talking about his achievements, Mr. Park said: "Up to now, after 2 years, the fact that his contract was renewed is already a success." Very humorous.

German spirit

Mr. Karl Heinz Weigang is the second foreign coach to work in Vietnam since 1995. But when he was 31 years old, this German coach led the Republic of Vietnam football team to win the 10th Merdeka Football Championship of Malaysia in 1966 with the following victories: 2-1 over Singapore, 2-0 over Japan, 3-0 over Taiwan and 1-0 over Burma in the final match. The captain of the Republic of Vietnam team at that time was Pham Huynh Tam Lang - the ex-husband of artist Bach Tuyet.

HLV Karl Heinz Weigang (1995-1997, một năm 8 tháng) là người nâng tầm kỷ luật chiến thuật cho bóng đá VN
Coach Karl Heinz Weigang (1995-1997, one year and eight months) was the one who raised the level of tactical discipline for Vietnamese football.
Although he was a good coach, due to his strong personality, he only cooperated with VFF for 1 year and 8 months (1995-1997). Mr. Weigang was highly appreciated for his ability to infuse German spirit and discipline into the ineffective playing style of Vietnamese players. Very quickly, he discovered that Vietnamese players did not have much experience in international competition.

Thanks to his personal connections, he arranged for the team to play dozens of matches during their training in Germany and thanks to that, the team transformed at the 1995 SEA Games. He helped Vietnamese football to know its first achievements in the regional arena with the silver medal at the 1995 SEA Games.

By 1997, he left after irreconcilable conflicts with VFF and his assistants, leaving Vietnamese football with a silver medal at the 1995 SEA Games and third place at the 1996 Tiger Cup. According to statistics, he led the team in 17 matches, won 9, drew 2, lost 6, with a score difference of 37-33.

An Thanh