SEA Games 31: Waiting for the competition between the top 3 coaches in Southeast Asia

At the upcoming 31st SEA Games, these three will have the opportunity to face each other again when, according to the latest information, Mr. Polking was assigned to "take charge" of the U23 Thailand team with the goal of winning the gold medal in men's football, while the two coaches Park Hang-seo and Shin Tae-yong have been in charge of the national and U23 teams for a long time.

As everyone knows, the success of Vietnamese football with a Korean coach was a great suggestion for the Indonesian Football Federation to invite coach Shin Tae-yong to this archipelago country to demonstrate his talent. And the good results of the Thai national team at the AFF Cup 2021 seemed to add more confidence for Mr. Ploking to be assigned to lead the U23 Thailand team, similar to the way Vietnam and Indonesia used people to bring positive results.

Coach Park Hang-seo.

Being at the “peak” of men’s football at the SEA Games with the first gold medal after a devastating 3-0 victory over U23 Indonesia nearly 3 years ago and playing at home this time is a great advantage for U23 Vietnam. However, there are many reasons for Mr. Park Hang-seo to be afraid of U23 Indonesia or U23 Thailand, both in terms of the ability of the coaches as well as the quality of the opposing players.

The results that the Indonesian national team, mainly the U23 team, has achieved recently, with a bright and confident performance at the AFF Cup 2021, have made regional opponents wary. Coach Shin Tae-yong has boldly renewed the squad, trusted young talents, taken advantage of domestic and foreign talents, put everything in order... creating a qualitative change towards professionalism, modernity, and ambition for this team. At the recent U23 Southeast Asian Championship, due to Covid-19, U23 Indonesia did not participate, making opponents even more worried because they do not know exactly what they are doing, how they are being trained and improved for the big match at the SEA Games?

Coach Shin Tae-yong.

Both Park Hang-seo and Shin Tae-yong are famous strategists of Korean football, with similarities such as being assistant head coach of the national team, head coach of the U23 or U20 teams of Korea, but also have differences. That is, coach Shin Tae-yong was later assigned the responsibility of head coach of the Korean national team, having won the AFC Champion League as both a player and a coach.Coach Park Hang-seothen very successfully brought Vietnamese football to the regional level to the continent and the world while Mr. Shin Tae-yong has not achieved any specific results, although the Indonesian teams under his leadership are gradually becoming the most annoying opponents in the region.

The competition between the two Korean coaches is still temporarily leaning towards Mr. Park Hang Seo (1 win, 1 draw) and they will meet here in the opening match of the group stage at the SEA Games. Surely, this will be a top, nerve-wracking match of regional football, first of all to win the top spot in the group, to avoid meeting Mr. Polking and U23 Thailand in the semi-finals?

Coach Polking.

Meanwhile, Mr. Polking, from being a temporary solution for the Thai national team, is the one who has created trust to continue to take on the task of the U23 team. The advantage of this coach is that he understands Thai football, understands Vietnamese football and he has the best player force in the region, with the most tradition in the region for a long time. His time as head coach of Ho Chi Minh City Club in V. League 2020 can hardly be said to be successful, but his ability to lead the team cannot be underestimated, especially what happened at the recent AFF Cup 2021. The fact that this coach dared to play almost 2 different lineups in that tournament, as well as the changes and variations in tactics, shows that this is not a "rookie", no one can easily "overtake" him?

To see, the upcoming competition between the three coaches Park Hang-seo - Shin Tae-yong - Polking will be extremely interesting and unpredictable. Each person has a different strength and it is very difficult to exploit each other's weaknesses. Only after the final whistle will we really know "who wins who" in this competition? Therefore, regional football is still worth watching and will gradually be raised to a higher level starting from specific people, these ambitious competitions./.

Phu Chau