U23 Vietnam: Can Coach Park Hang-seo polish a precious gem?

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With so many players who fought with him at the U23 Asian Cup in Changzhou in 2018 being too old, coach Park Hang Seo was forced to call up a series of new players to prepare for tournaments in 2019.

Including players who have been called up to the national team, the U23 team previously on the first training list in 2019 to prepare for the U23 Asia qualifiers and SEA Games had more than half of them being new players.

There are many new recruits in U23 Vietnam at this time.

In terms of expertise at the U23 age group, it is clear that these are the best players with many names that have matured from the U20 team, having participated in the World Cup or recently participated in the U22 Southeast Asian tournament in Cambodia.

Almost certainly, the current list of 37 players is not the final one for all plans this year of the Korean strategist, so the future of excellent players under the age of U22 still has the opportunity to step up to the team to attend the SEA Games at the end of the year.

And in the context where Vietnamese youth football has relatively good depth with many complete training centers, it is not easy for coach Park Hang-seo to make a list of players to call up the U23 team to participate in tournaments in 2019.

but not refined...

Vietnamese youth football is making relatively big breakthroughs after many years of stagnation. Therefore, the successes that Mr. Park has achieved at this time are really thanks to the methodical way of "building the foundation".

However, looking at U23 Vietnam at this time, although there are quite a few players who have temporarily become famous in previous youth teams such as Tran Thanh, Luong Hoang Nam, Thanh Hau... but for coach Park Hang-seo to be able to trust them absolutely like the senior generation Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Van Duc... is clearly not possible.

But to be able to replace the image and expertise of seniors like Xuan Truong, Hong Duy... is not easy.

The group of players who participated in the U20 World Cup 2 years ago until now, except for the group of players from Hanoi Club with Quang Hai, Van Hau, Dinh Trong... who often get to play and enjoy the V-League atmosphere and develop quickly, the rest are mainly just on the bench, or play in the First Division with a very low level of competition.

Not only is the U22 Vietnam team not as talented as the previous generation, but the lack of exposure to the highest level of competition in Vietnam has made coach Park Hang-seo hesitate and think for a long time before daring to accept the U22 Vietnam team. The goal of winning the SEA Games gold medal is the clearest proof of this decline compared to the previous generation.

Of course, saying that does not mean that the new U23 Vietnam players at this time do not have the potential to develop for Mr. Park to exploit. On the contrary, there are not few like Tran Danh Trung, Vu Tin... but as said, to fill the gap of the predecessors is not easy.

Football always has a cycle of success, and it is not always possible to find precious gems like Van Duc, Xuan Manh... or talents that surpass their peers like Quang Hai, Van Hau... so we have to be satisfied with what U23 Vietnam has.

And now, of course, as usual, fans hope that coach Park Hang-seo will be able to create a precious gem for national football from the U23 Vietnam team as he did before...