The Man of Miracles

HISTORICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

When Coach Park Hang-seo arrived in Vietnam at the end of 2017, his ability was doubted because his personal record was not too outstanding, having only led a few clubs in Korea. He was signed by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) in the context of Vietnamese football going downhill, especially the U.23 Vietnam team suffered a heavy defeat at the 29th SEA Games in 2017. However, very quickly after that, the coach born in 1957 made his first mark when he and U.23 Vietnam defeated U.23 Thailand right on Thai soil at the M-150 friendly tournament. He revived two generations of U.19 Vietnam (the generation of 2014 and 2016), helping the U.23 Vietnam team write a miracle with the runner-up position of the U.23 Asian Cup in Changzhou (China) in 2018. Since then, Vietnamese football has awakened and stood up with a series of achievements such as winning the AFF Cup 2018, reaching the semi-finals of ASAID 2018, the quarter-finals of Asian Cup 2019, entering the third qualifying round of World Cup 2022... along with 2 gold medals of SEA Games 2019 and 2021.

HLV Park Hang-seo: Người đàn ông của những kỳ tích - Ảnh 1. — Coach Park Hang-seo leaves a deep mark on Vietnamese football

Some people think that Mr. Park is lucky to have two generations of players who are close together and the most talented in the history of Vietnamese football. But that is only a necessary condition, because Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Quang Hai, Van Hau, Tien Linh, Ngoc Hai, Hung Dung... have all failed. The sufficient condition is that Mr. Park has created a suitable, strong, and cohesive development environment thanks to his attractive personality. Professional talent, knowing how to foster will, arouse desire in players, and bold decisions in using people of Coach Park Hang-seo have made a difference, helping to elevate the "Golden Generation 3.0" of Vietnamese football.

HOT AND SOFT

Language assistant Le Huy Khoa is probably the Vietnamese person who understands Coach Park Hang-seo best. Mr. Khoa still remembers his first impression of Coach Park - a cheerful, healthy, enthusiastic and energetic man. Very cheerful and humorous in real life, but when he starts working, Mr. Park becomes a completely different person.

Mr. Khoa shared: "Coach Park Hang-seo is a man of work. In him, we see two contrasting images: extremely hot but depending on the situation, he knows how to adjust his personality to become "soft". He is also extremely emotional and knows how to encourage players. Korean football legend Park Ji-sung once shared that he had two very successful teachers, Alex Ferguson and Guus Hiddink, but he could not follow in his footsteps because he felt he lacked a coaching style. Mr. Park is very different, has a strong charm, similar to the style of coach Guus Hiddink and knows how to skillfully apply into practice many experiences learned from his time as assistant to Mr. Hiddink in the Korean team at the 2002 World Cup. Coach Park Hang-seo treats everyone extremely skillfully and sincerely. Mr. Park has a humorous and witty way of speaking, so the players really like him. Normally, players will be afraid of the coach, but in football it is not simple to apply philosophy "The stick and the carrot" is right. It is the way Mr. Park breathes fire into each member that helps the team always play with the most fiery spirit when entering the field. In this regard, Mr. Park is the excellent student of Coach Guus Hiddink".

Recently, when interviewing Mr. Park who had just returned from Vietnam to Korea, KBS News TV station reposted a video clip of midfielder Duc Huy filming his teacher with a very funny Kitty cat effect. There are many other images such as Mr. Park sleeping soundly on his student's feet at the airport, or personally massaging the players, which have left a strong impression on Vietnamese and Korean fans.

N THE ART OF LISTENING

In the early days under Mr. Park's leadership, the Vietnamese team had many HAGL players. But at the AFF Cup 2018, after the first few matches of the group stage, Xuan Truong, Cong Phuong, Van Toan... gradually gave way to players who were more suited to a disciplined defensive counter-attacking style of play. In the first leg of the final at the "fire pit" of Bukit Jalil, packed with nearly 100,000 Malaysian fans, Mr. Park unexpectedly sent the duo Duc Huy - Huy Hung to start for the first time, leaving the opponent unable to react and it was this duo who scored to help us leave with a 2-2 draw. In the second leg, striker Anh Duc - who seemed to have passed his prime under previous coaches - shone with a volley that brought a 1-0 victory at My Dinh Stadium, helping Vietnam reach the top of Southeast Asia for the second time (the first time was by coach Calisto in 2008).

Coach Park Hang-seo's assistant team includes both Vietnamese and Koreans, but he is not biased towards his compatriots and is always ready to listen to everyone. He talks to his colleagues, listens to the opinions of each assistant before making a final decision. At the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines in 2019, the coaching staff of the U.22 Vietnam team was clearly divided into two factions, one side chose goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung and the other chose Nguyen Van Toan. Most of them leaned towards Bui Tien Dung - who was a hero at the 2018 U.23 Asian Cup, but goalkeeper coach Nguyen The Anh had the opposite view. Van Toan had just emerged at that time but was full of potential, regularly playing for Hai Phong, was tenacious and very good at defending high balls; while Bui Tien Dung rarely played for his club. After fierce debates, Mr. Park decided to give both sides a chance to compete. Bui Tien Dung will take charge of the first match against U.22 Brunei and the third match against U.22 Indonesia, while Van Toan will take charge of the second match against U.22 Laos and the fourth match against U.22 Singapore. After evaluating their performance, Mr. Park gave Van Toan the starting position in the 3-0 victory over Indonesia in the final. (to be continued)

N THE STRESSES OF MR. P ARK

Mr. Le Huy Khoa shared that the high sense of responsibility made Mr. Park not good at handling pressure. In an exclusive interview with Thanh Nien Newspaper after winning the 30th SEA Games gold medal in 2021 in Vietnam, Mr. Park shared that he was under a lot of stress and had many sleepless nights. The most stressful period for Coach Park was the series of 7 consecutive losses in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which made him feel like a powder keg waiting to explode. But in the end, the convincing 3-1 victory over the Chinese team on the first day of the Lunar New Year (2022) relieved everything, and then the Vietnamese team closed the historic campaign with a 1-1 draw right on the Japanese field.

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