Why do Southeast Asian football teams choose Korea as a training ground?

And as a matter of course, in each pre-tournament assessment, the Korean coaches let their players compete with their home teams as a final important rehearsal. Before the 31st SEA Games, both teamsU23 Vietnamand U23 Indonesia, (not to mention the Vietnamese women's team) all came to Korea or invited other teams from Korea to compete, which is a specific example.

It is known that from April 15, U23 Indonesia will have a training trip in Korea at the request of coach Shin Tae-yong. This team will travel straight to Vietnam to participate in the 31st SEA Games with the goal of winning the gold medal from U23 Vietnam, which means "paying back the debt" from the previous SEA Games (lost 0-3). This time, U23 Indonesia called back 6 players who are playing abroad, however, things are not convenient because the clubs do not easily release players when the SEA Games is not in the FIFA competition system. U23 Indonesia will have more than half a month of training and have at least 1 friendly match in Korea before the 31st SEA Games.

Chinese fans were very happy when their team avoided U23 Vietnam.

Meanwhile, as is known, U23 Vietnam has a longer training period when V. League 2022 only plays 4 rounds and takes a break. Coach Park Hang-seo and his team therefore have a longer training period, have full strength and will play 2 consecutive friendly matches with U20 Korea on April 19 and April 22. Surely, Coach Park Hang-seo has calculated to only invite the U20 team, most of whom are student players, and not the U23 Korea team. It must be an opponent that is not too strong and somewhat equivalent to the upcoming opponents to give the coaching staff a reliable result when testing the students to find suitable solutions.

Also training in Korea, it seems that the Vietnamese women's team is more "generous" when they have 2 matches with the Korean women's team, one match with the university team and one match against Gyeongju Club. Of course, when facing the "genuine" women's team in the opening match, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team had no "chance" (lost 0-3), but after that, the other side adjusted appropriately and created conditions for the away team to maximize all their abilities and strengths, so they achieved positive and satisfactory results, especially the 3-2 victory against the Korean women's team, mostly the second team.

Currently, there are no specific results after the training and friendly matches of the U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia teams, so it is difficult to say anything. But certainly in this process, new and old factors, the U23 generation as well as those over 23 years old will be tested and experimented in order to try to find the most accurate answer possible, helping the coaches have the most satisfactory framework and reserve 1, 2 for each position, each situation that is expected to arise in the future.

U23 Vietnam's goal celebration. Photo: Internet

And it is no coincidence that the playground, training ground, and testing ground were chosen by Korean teachers in the place where they were born and raised. Familiarity and familiarity are the initial reasons that pave the way for everyone to come and return. But more importantly, sports in general and Korean football in particular have long been a dream model for continental football, especially Southeast Asia, to learn from and aim for.

The system of facilities, advanced and modern staff and curriculum... are the basic conditions for Korean football to give birth to and nurture great talents, who once brought the national team to the semi-finals of a World Cup (2002), and defeated strong teams in the world such as Spain and Germany in the World Cup. Just look at player Son Heung-min playing in the English Premier League and the male and female football stars playing in Europe to see what Korean football has done that makes everyone look up to it.

Vietnam U23 team in a training session. Photo courtesy of Hai Hoang

When hePark Hang-seoWinning with U23 Vietnam or the Vietnam National Team, the Korean media, the government and the people of his homeland were extremely happy and from there created a new wave in the strong and friendly economic and tourism relations between the two countries of Vietnam and Korea. Therefore, learning from Korean football and all creative ways to recognize and multiply the soft power of each country from culture and sports is something that should be done and needs to be done well and more often.

And ahead of us will be exciting and fierce confrontations on the U23 playground at the upcoming SEA Games with Korean strategists, valuable knowledge and experience passed down from the most developed football in the continent, with generations of students full of desire to win, desire to reach new heights./.