The Vietnamese football team (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The International Federation of FootballAssociations (FIFA)’ website has run an article lauding the achievementsof the Vietnamese men’s national football team, and head coach Park Hang-seo inparticular for his recent contributions to the country.
In an articleentitled “Foreign flavour delivers tasty success for Vietnam”, FIFA said Vietnamhas enjoyed increasing success in recent years. The nation won the recentregional title and qualified for the 2019 Asian Cup.
“Vietnam certainly didn’t suffer fromstage fright and played with confidence in last week’s opener against Iraq,twice taking the lead only to be edged 3-2 in the last minute by the winners ofthat 2007 edition. Despite subsequently losing 2-0 to continental big gunsIran, they rallied to defeat Yemen by the same scoreline to win through to theknockout stage as one of the third-best teams,” FIFA said.
"Park Hang-seo is among the mostsuccessful foreigners to have coached our national team over the years,"FIFA quoted President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Le Khanh Hai assaying.
“Under him, the team have played withgreat determination and gained substantial achievements,” Hai noted.
FIFA also spoke highly of Vietnam’s policyin hiring foreign coaches for their men’s national team. Vietnam firstattempted to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Afterwards, the campaignignited the nation’s passion for the game, with the VFF embarking on long-termdevelopment.
“It is a frequently used policystretching back several decades that has often born fruit for Vietnamesefootball. That has never been more the case, however, than in the present daywith coach Park Hang-seo from the Republic of Korea (RoK), guiding Vietnamthrough its qualification and into the AFC Asian Cup,” the federation noted.
German Karl Heinz Weigang was giventhe reins of the national team in 1995. Under him, Vietnam achieved abreakthrough success, finishing third at the 1996 AFF Championship (theSoutheast Asian championship also known as the Tiger Cup).
Then came Austrian Alfred Riedl, whoguided Vietnam to the final in the 1998 edition, before Portuguese HenriqueCalisto took over in 2002. These two would go on to enjoy more successfulstints in charge of Vietnam, with Riedl taking the team to the last eight inthe 2007 Asian Cup as co-hosts, and Calisto leading them to their maidenregional title in the 2008 AFF Championship.
Under the reign of coach ToshiyaMiura from Japan, Vietnam qualified for the knockout round of the 2014 ASIAD inthe RoK’s Incheon. Notably, the team bagged a historic 4-1 win against Iran inthe group stage.
“But it is Park who has, by far, beenthe most successful foreign mentor. Under him, Vietnam made history by reachingthe final at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, while the national senior side wontheir second regional title in December 2018”.
Vietnam secured the last ticket tothe round of 16 at the ongoing 2019 AFC Cup after narrowly qualifying overLebanon on fair-play points.
“From cooperation with these foreigncoaches, we have learnt professionalism, carefulness, and strictness intraining. The knowledge we have gained is beyond even the tactical andtechnical sides, and we are now aware of the importance of mentality andnutrition for example,” the VFF President said.
Notable foreign coaches of Vietnam’snational team:
Karl Heinz Weigang: 1995-97
Alfred Riedl: 1998-2000, 2003,2005-2007
Henrique Calisto: 2002, 2008-2011
Edson Tavares: 1995, 2004
Toshiya Miura: 2014-2016
Park Hang-seo: 2017-present. –VNA
