Park Hang-seo (64), former head coach of Vietnam’s national soccer team, who caused a sensation by instantly making Vietnam, a country on the periphery of soccer, a dark horse in Asia, is going to nurture young soccer talents locally. In January of this year, he put down the baton of the national team and put an end to his 5 years and 4 months of companionship, but he opened the second act of his relationship with Vietnam in the way of ‘nurturing promising players’.
Former coach Park held a press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam on the 30th and announced that he would open the ‘Park Hang-seo International Football Academy’ named after him. This is a youth soccer class for 300 children aged 7, 9, 11 and 13 years old.
The goal is to help Vietnamese children get access to the advanced youth football system and advance to the world stage. Director Park said, “I have received a lot of encouragement, support and love in Vietnam. The only thing I know how to do well is soccer, so I took up the challenge to repay with soccer,” he said. “In Vietnam, academy soccer has not developed much, but I hope that a new and powerful grassroots soccer system will be established through our academy.”
The reason why the word ‘international’ is included in the name is in the hope that children will get out of the fence of ‘Vietnam’ and acquire global competitiveness. In the future, it plans to create an overseas exchange program to provide talented players with opportunities to realize their dreams on a wider stage. Former coach Park emphasized, “Vietnam must also have international competitiveness so that it can rise to the top of Asia and, by extension, become one of the world’s soccer powerhouses.”
However, it does not directly teach children. Director Park Jeon runs the academy, and Shin Jong-young, a Korean director, is in charge of directing the scene. Instead, Vietnamese coaches and assistants, who were personally selected and taught by Park, are in charge of educating children.
There were some noises before the academy was established. Recently, several fraudulent crimes impersonating ‘Park Hang-seo Soccer Academy’ have occurred in various places in Vietnam, and parents have suffered financial damage. The academy plans to take action to help the victims.메이저놀이터
Former director Park stepped into the ‘training of dreamers’, but he did not completely leave the scene. When asked whether he would return to the managerial position in the future, he said, “I think it has been verified in Southeast Asia. If the environment or conditions are right and a suitable team appears, I have an idea to take on the challenge.”
In October 2017, former coach Park, who was appointed as the head coach of the Vietnamese national football team, raised the national team from 130th to 92nd in the FIFA rankings, emerging as a ‘national hero’. Thanks to his caring leadership, he is nicknamed ‘Papa Park (Park’s father)’ locally. As if reflecting his high popularity, more than 100 people, including Vietnam Football Association officials and local reporters, gathered at the press conference on the 30th to cheer for his new start.
Tran Quoc Tuan, president of the Vietnam Football Federation, did not hide his expectations, saying, “The establishment of the academy will contribute to deepening friendship and cooperation between Korea and Vietnam.” Mai Duc Trung, head coach of the Vietnamese women’s national soccer team, also said, “I hope that through Park’s challenge, promising Vietnamese soccer players will grow and play an active part in the national team in the future.”