U.19 and U.23 Vietnam are about to have a German physical rehabilitation expert

German injury rehabilitation specialist Seabtian Mathias Schoch will be in Vietnam in March to help the national team, U.19 and U.23 teams in preparation for major tournaments in 2017.

Coach Huu Thang (middle) will remove worries about players' recovery after injury.

Before the Lunar New Year, at the year-end meeting of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan "fired the first shot" about the fact that Vietnamese football has a big gap in the recovery process after injuries, with the Vietnamese team being the most affected and disadvantaged.

With this news, Coach Huu Thang expressed his wish to the highest leaders of the industry to hire a private foreign rehabilitation doctor for the team.

Coach Huu Thang said: “In Vietnam's failure at the AFF Cup 2016, I would like to frankly acknowledge my role and responsibility and not blame anyone. I only regret one thing, the team could not have the best squad, the best personnel due to the absence of two key players: Tuan Anh and Hoang Thinh. My training plan and exercises had to change a lot because of this disappointment. The reason why they could not regain their fitness and recover from injury was also due to the team's poor recovery process. Therefore, I earnestly hope that the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) will invest funds and invite a foreign expert specializing in recovery. Maybe from now on, national players will not have incidents like Tuan Anh or Hoang Thinh.”

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan (right) also complained about the lack of recovery specialists in Vietnamese football. Photo: AFC

Also attending the meeting that day were VFF Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan and the Minister turned to Mr. Tuan and immediately said: "Perhaps, this is within the reach of VFF, right?".

Through the introduction of a partner in Germany, VFF urgently negotiated and received the agreement to cooperate with Mr. Seabtian Mathias Schoch, 40 years old, a player recovery expert.

Mr. Le Hoai Anh, General Secretary of VFF said: “Currently, we have had effective support from two German experts, including technical director Gede and fitness coach Martin. VFF is very hopeful and confident that with the new member from Germany, the coaches will be satisfied and in case of injured players, they will be treated and recover quickly.”

Tuan Anh recently had to go to Singapore for surgery. Photo: Ngoc Linh

Doctor Nguyen Trong Hien, head of the medical department of the Hanoi National Sports Training Center (who worked as a team doctor for many years under coach Calisto) said: “A national team, to perform well, should have the following characters. 1/ Doctor whose first task is to ensure the best health for the players, including general health and health to be able to achieve results in a tournament. Participate in injury treatment and recovery. 2/ Fitness coach. 3/ Rehabilitation specialist, or in medicine, also known as a physical therapist.

In Vietnam, for many years now, there have only been doctors and fitness trainers, but there have been absolutely no specialized physical therapists. Or if there are, they are only for general guidance. The role of the rehabilitation specialist is extremely important because whether a player recovers quickly and can play football at high intensity or not depends largely on the recovery phase.

When a player is injured, the team doctor works closely with the fitness coach and rehabilitation specialist to work together to do the following: Let the player rest temporarily for treatment, recovery, and then move on to the next stage of helping the player practice and be ready to compete again. If these steps are done well, the head coach will feel secure in devising tactics for the team. Huu Thang's complaints and suggestions are correct. Before Tet, when the VFF informed me that they would invite another "foreign player" as a rehabilitation specialist, I was very happy."

According to TNO