New Year’s Message from Park Hang Seo: “New year, new beginning – it’s time to go back to when we first started”
Park Hang Seo and the coaching staff gathered with the Vietnam national team players for the end-of-year review. They spent a lengthy time evaluating a year journey of both up and down moments. Park Hang Seo and all other members of Vietnam national team agreed and concluded that team’s foremost importance in the new year is to return to its first beginning and go back to beginner’s mental attitude.
06/01/2022 10:00:48
Park Hang Seo said, “On the first day of the new year, we looked back over our journey in 2021. There were many challenges we had to face as a team. We were able to overcome some of them, but there were others that were very difficult. For example, quarantine guidelines and restrictions due to the COVID-19 confined our players to stay in one restricted area for long period of time. This took a great toll on our players’ mentality.
Many who shared the run of successes from 2018 were not able to maintain the same level of motivation, competitiveness, and passion to reach for higher achievement. Going back to when we first started in 2018 means we go back to our humble beginnings, but with great aspirations and ambitions. Returning to the initial mindset for a fresh start is the best lesson for the Vietnam national team. The coaching staff, including myself, and everyone involved with the national team must renew their minds with the same goal in order to achieve a successful year in 2022.”
Regarding the replacement of team’s captaincy, Park Hang Seo said, “The leaders of the national team were great examples for other players on and off the pitch. Que Ngoc Hai has been our team’s captain for the past three years. The captains of the national team including the vice-captains are given a big responsibility to become leaders of national team players. Now, the coaching staff wishes to lighten the load on role of leaders so they, too, can stay focused on performing at their highest level. After the team’s last training on 3 January, I had an honest conversation with the captain and vice-captains. We agreed that a new atmosphere is required for a new motivation and return to our first beginning with a beginner’s mental attitude.”
To take on the new year’s goal, Vietnam national team members are assembling again on 13 January to prepare for the FIFA World Cup final qualification match against Australia in Melbourne on 27 January. Soon after, team returns to My Dinh national stadium for a rematch against China on 01 February.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup final qualification matches and the 2022 AFF Championship competition are scheduled this year. Park Hang Seo plans to continue raising the level of competitiveness of Vietnam national team by adding more players and ultimately, strengthen the team.
