Coach Park Hang-seo said 1 bridge, Vietnamese football… disillusioned?

U23 Vietnam is about to attend the 31st SEA Games at home. Players born in 1999-2001 will play a pivotal role in competing in this front. However, coach Park Hang-seo is not really sure about this set of players. The proof is that the strongest squad of U23 Vietnam in the rehearsal match against U20 Korea still needs the presence of a trio of players over 23 years old including Hung Dung, Hoang Duc and Tien Linh.

Although all 3 did not contribute to the only goal of U23 Vietnam against U20 Vietnam, basically, the play of “Golden Star Warriors” is really only noticeable when the trio is over 23 years old. present. After the match, Coach Park Hang-seo frankly said this:

“In the match against Korea U20, I had two goals. Firstly, I want to find a harmony between young players and old faces like Hoang Duc, Tien Linh, Hung Dung. And then, when withdrawing those 3 players over 23 years old, I want to see how U23 Vietnam operates. Really looking from this game, I understand why I have to call 3 players too old. They played well, had a big impact on the game. It’s not a matter of controversy anymore.”

This sentence of Coach Park Hang-seo hit the “black heart” of current Vietnamese football. That is the group of players born in 1999-2001 who are not qualified to be next to the senior class. Jernel Kamensek, a European broker working in Vietnam, also frankly said: “Admittedly, this generation of players cannot be as good as the faces playing at the national team level. And even if they are still U23 players, players like Quang Hai, Duc Chinh and Dinh Trong are already better than the current U23 players.

Football is life, not products on a production line. You cannot develop the same set of players at the same time. I think Vietnamese fans are wrong when they have the illusion that each generation of Vietnam has good players.”

Coach Park Hang-seo can still put his faith in 3 players over 23 years old to wonder if they will “carry” for the young players under 23 years old in this 31 SEA Games. But only 1 month later, when U23 Vietnam attended the U23 Asian Cup, there were no more Hung Dung, Tien Linh, Hoang Duc and especially coach Park Hang-seo, how will they manage.

Not to mention, 4 years later, the 2026 World Cup will take place. The dream of Vietnamese football is to be present at that tournament. But with the core force of the 1999-2001 generation, still not strong enough as it is now, it seems that Mr. Park will still need 28-30 year old “old generals” such as Hung Dung, Tien Linh, Hoang Duc, and Quang Hai. in the shirt of Vietnam.