Looking for a head coach for the Vietnam national team: VFF chooses Asia or Europe?

On the table of VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan is a list of more than 10 candidates, divided into two clear schools of thought based on nationality: Asia and Europe. Over the years, Vietnamese football has had successes and failures with coaches from all over the world, from Japan, Korea to Portugal, Austria, Brazil...

Which option should be prioritized in the context of the national team hitting rock bottom?

European coaches at a disadvantage

Let's start with the last European to lead the Vietnamese team - Mr. Philippe Troussier. The French coach even had many advantages before taking the job.

Mr. Troussier was successful with Japanese football, but failed when leading Qatar and China. The coach nicknamed "white witch" also worked at PVF football center and led U19 Vietnam.

European coaches have no luck with Vietnamese football.

When the coach born in 1955 suffered a bitter defeat, fans easily became experts to "dissect" Mr. Troussier's work. But there is an undeniable fact that European coaches have not had a smooth working time when leading the Vietnamese team.

German coach Karl Heinz Weigang ended his contract with VFF after the scandal at the 1996 Tiger Cup.

Despite the previous success at the 18th SEA Games, the Vietnamese team played inconsistently. Mr. Weigang did not hold back and asked a group of stars at that time: " How much money did you get for selling this match ?"

Even if he won the bronze medal that year, Mr. Weigang would have had difficulty continuing his work.

Coach Colin Murphy (British) has led the Vietnamese team for less than half a year. This strategist is steadfast in his typical British style of playing on the sidelines and crossing the ball.

The Vietnamese team has changed its way of thinking, but overall this is not a suitable solution. When the stars are removed from the squad, if the team is not successful, the one who has to go is the head coach.

Mr. Calisto is the most successful European coach with Vietnamese football.

From 2000 to 2011, Vietnamese football revolved around two foreign European coaches, Henrique Calisto (Portugal) and Alfred Riedl (Austria). In general, these coaches did a good job but did not change much of the face of the Vietnamese team.

However, they are still considered successful people, Mr. Calisto won the AFF Cup 2008, Coach Riedl was the runner-up but also helped the Vietnamese team reach the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup 2007.

Coach Falko Goetz came and went quickly. The German coach only managed to lead the Vietnamese team for 3 matches and left after the defeat with the U23 team, leaving behind a big controversy about the role of the National Coaching Council. The members of the council were upset because they did not consult and appoint Mr. Falko Goetz but were "given" the right to fire the German coach.

In short, European coaches still have certain cultural differences that make it difficult for them to adapt to the conditions of Vietnamese football.

Thanh Hoa team seems to have a "lucky hand" with foreign coaches but they were only successful when choosing coaches from Eastern Europe such as Ljubomir Petrovic, Stanislav Tanasijevic (Serbia) or Velizar Popov (Bulgaria). They received bitter fruit when they trusted coach Marian Mihail (Romania).

The list of candidates for the Vietnamese national team currently includes European coaches such as Roberto Donadoni, Velizar Popov or Alexandre Polking. However, the VFF will have to be especially careful when placing its trust in Western football philosophies.

Does Asian Coaching Guarantee Success?

In the past 30 years, the Vietnamese national team has actually only used two foreign coaches from Asia: Park Hang Seo (Korea) and Toshiya Miura (Japan). Mr. Park is certainly the most successful coach in the history of Vietnamese football, at least at the present time.

Coach Park Hang Seo has achieved many successes.

When the flight carrying Mr. Park from Korea to Vietnam landed at the end of 2017, not many people expected a coach who was considered to be out of date. Coming to Vietnam was considered the last chance for the former assistant of the Korean team. The rest is history.

So what is the greatest strength of Coach Park Hang Seo that helps him succeed? The answer lies in the factor of "winning hearts and minds" and knowing how to adapt to the times rather than pure expertise. Basically, the tactics that Mr. Park Hang Seo builds are not special. But the way this strategist uses his personnel and ignites the spirit of his students is the key to opening the difference.

Thanks to the success of Coach Park Hang Seo, Asian candidates suddenly have an advantage over their European counterparts in the race for the position of head coach of the Vietnamese national team. But don't be too confident with Asian options. Because, Vietnamese football has also witnessed many failures of Japanese or Korean coaches.

Coach Toshiya Miura - who was introduced by the Japan Football Federation quickly faced challenges after his honeymoon at the 17th ASIAD. Returning to the SEA Games and AFF Cup arena, the national team and the U23 team did not play well and... did not win. Mr. Miura was fired and continued to fail when given the opportunity at Ho Chi Minh City Club.

Similarly, Coach Gong Oh-kyun, with positive signals when leading U23 Vietnam, was tested at Hanoi Police Club. He did not win any match in V.League and had to leave with many controversies.

Hanoi FC once admitted a mistake in choosing coach Park Choong-kyun. His compatriot Chun Jae-ho was given the temporary position.

Despite winning the V.League, Mr. Chun's mark was too weak and this coach lost his job when the season ended. The Cong Viettel Club made mistakes with both Korean "coaches" Lee Heung-sil and Bae Ji-won.

Speaking to VTC News, a member of the VFF Executive Committee of the 9th term said: " Choosing the head coach of the national team is considered the most important task at this time. In fact, the VFF leadership is very receptive when using many information channels to check on candidates. There is no way that the VFF will put absolute trust in anyone with just a good resume.

There is no specific line for choosing a coach who must be Japanese, Korean or European. As Mr. Tran Anh Tu (Vice President of VFF - PV) said, everyone must be interviewed and the coach's ability to adapt to the special conditions of Vietnamese football is important. Of course, Asian coaches have a slight advantage based on this criterion."

It is expected that VFF will complete the selection of the national team's head coach in May. But perhaps football managers do not need to rush. The domestic coach can also temporarily lead the team in the last two matches of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Just choose the coach carefully, whether from Asia or Europe, as long as the team has to step out of the quagmire.

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