The truth about Coach Park Hang Seo's goal of bringing Vietnam into FIFA Top 100

(Baonghean.vn) – Many people are wondering why Coach Park Hang Seo set a goal of entering the Top 100 on the FIFA rankings for Vietnamese football instead of winning the AFF Cup or SEA Games?

Vietnam football is currently ranked 130th in the world, jumping 30 places in 2 years is a rather vague goal. However, Vietnam football has been in the Top 100 in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2011. In December 2011, Vietnam rose to 99th after jumping 17 places because they did not play any matches for 2 consecutive months.

The FIFA rankings are so special that sometimes it is better not to play again if you lose. Playing against a higher ranking team will deduct a few points, playing against a lower ranking team and losing will deduct a lot of points. In football, setting a goal of entering the top FIFA rankings is very rare or has never happened to any new coach. For example, the case of coach Sampaoli who is leading Argentina does not have the goal of bringing the team back to the number 1 position on the FIFA rankings. Instead, it is to win a ticket to the World Cup and do something in Russia next year, very specific but without numbers.

The new head coach of the Vietnam National Team speaks at the launching ceremony. Photo: Internet

Before 2008, Vietnamese football ranked 98th in the world, but before coach Calisto led the national team to win the AFF Cup, it dropped to about 140th and after winning the championship, it was 155th. That is the confusion of the world football rankings. And the story reflects the reality, the Portuguese coach did not set a goal of bringing Vietnam back to the Top 100. Listening to the statements that are no different from the "oath" of coach Park, it seems that Vietnamese football has just had a very strong, decisive and creative coach. Of course, time will verify this.

Coach Park Hang Seo may not have a thorough understanding of Vietnamese football and its funny and sad difficulties, but at least in a football country like Korea, this coach understands what Vietnamese football needs. Just like when coach Toshiya Miura first came to Vietnam, he chose a "giant" squad to improve the ability to defend against high balls and physical weaknesses. And Mr. Park also made an impression when he announced that players should not bring their wives or girlfriends into their private rooms. One of the scientific principles in modern sports and football.

Looking at the evidence of former coach Dido, 2 years and a total salary of about 12 billion is enough for coach Park Hang Seo to do something for Vietnamese football. Photo: Document

Back to the story of the rankings, Mr. Park himself clearly understands what the goal of improving the position by 30 places on the rankings needs to do. That is, reaching the 2019 ASIAN Cup Finals, Vietnam can increase 10 places and similarly in 2 years, from 130 to 100 is completely feasible if Coach Park is confident in his ability. No one knows what the contract that VFF signed for this strategist is like at the 2018 AFF Cup, the 2018 Asian U23 Finals, the 2018 Asian Games and the 2019 Asian Cup. However, if we just do these tasks well, Vietnam's position on the rankings will automatically improve.

And it can be understood that Mr. Park simply wants to talk about Top 100 to avoid having to talk about important specific things and also make fans see his determination... And starting from the confusion of the FIFA rankings, it is very possible that he will still ensure that Vietnam is in the Top 100 but will still be fired for not completing specific targets that the public cannot grasp. At that time, if he has to pack his bags and go home, he will still be able to hold his head high.

So anyway, welcome Mr. Park Hang Seo to Vietnamese football, which is considered a hotbed for foreign coaches. I just hope he will be as brave as he said, and at the same time be respected so as not to follow in the footsteps of his poor predecessor, Coach Toshiya Miura. Remember, “Vietnam has 30 million coaches” according to Coach Calisto.

Trung Kien