Hanoi (VNA) – The Park Hang-seo International Football Academy officially opened in Hanoi on August 30, marking a development of youth football in Vietnam.
This is the outcome of enthusiasm of Coach Park Hang-seo and his team, with the goal of developing the school football model for students aged between five and 11.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Park emphasised the importance of the school football development movement, expressing his hope that the academy will open up new horizons, contributing to creating a firm root for the development of Vietnamese football in the future.
President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Tran Quoc Tuan said that the opening of the first Republic of Korean (RoK) football academy in Vietnam will contribute to tightening the friendship and cooperation between the two countries. In the coming time, Vietnam and the RoK will continue to have cooperation development programmes to help Vietnamese football develop in a stable and sustainable way.
Meanwhile, head coach of the Vietnamese national women’s football team Mai Duc Chung expressed his hope that the academy will train many good players, provide right orientations for football talents, and help nurture football passion among young kids.
At the launch event, Dong Luc Sports Group also announced a strategic partnership, including the supply of training and movement apparel, competition gear and sports accessories, equipment and supplies. mainly to serve students and the staff of the training board and staff of the academy.
Coach Park Hang Seo was born in 1957 and used to be Guus Hiddink's assistant in the RoK team to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. He also led the RoK’s Olympic team to win the bronze medal at the 2022 Asiad.
However, his name was only really known to many people when he served as the head coach of the Vietnam team (2017-2022).
He helped Vietnam U23 win the 23 Asian U2018 runner-up position, twice winning the SEA Games gold medals (2019, 2021), with the Vietnamese team winning the AFF Cup 2018, reaching the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup 2019 and to the final qualifying round of the World Cup 2022./.