Coach Kim Sang-sik: I always tell myself not to ruin Coach Park Hang-seo's legacy in Vietnam

Coach Kim's latest success is the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship. He has conquered 2 regional tournaments in just 6 months. This is something that his predecessor Park Hang-seo, who is considered a legendary coach of Vietnamese football, could not do.

Yonhap asked Kim Sang-sik about the reason for his success with Vietnamese football. He replied: “I have put a lot of effort into my daily life. I often joke with my students in the treatment room and imitate Park Hang-seo. I think Korean and Vietnamese cultures are quite similar, so I think I should open my heart and try to communicate.

Park Hang-seo is the hero of Vietnamese football. I always tell myself that I should not destroy the achievements that Coach Park left behind. I think I should not harm it."

In addition to Coach Park, Mr. Kim also mentioned another Korean coach who was successful in Southeast Asia, Shin Tae-yong. The coach of the U23 and Vietnam national teams expressed regret that Coach Shin lost his job early, causing both to miss the opportunity to compete with each other on the regional level.

Coach Kim Sang-sik helps Vietnam win the U23 Southeast Asian Championship for the third consecutive time

“If coach Shin Tae-yong were still working with Indonesian football, the confrontations with that team would definitely be very difficult. Honestly, it was lucky that he left early (laughs). I heard that he is going to return to work in Korea, I will always support this coach.”

Through Yonhap newspaper, Mr. Kim Sang-sik did not forget to thank the Vietnamese players and fans, who according to him have helped him a lot to achieve success in the past time.

“I am very happy to have helped Vietnam win the regional championship for the third consecutive time. I think the success is thanks to the relentless efforts of the players. They fought with all their might. The fans also constantly cheered for us. I think the love of Vietnamese fans also gave the whole team more motivation.”

Achieving success is difficult, maintaining it is even more difficult. Coach Kim understands this. He believes that after the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, Vietnamese football will have even higher expectations: “After this championship, I believe that the expectations of Vietnamese fans will increase even more. That makes me think a lot about how to continue to be more successful.”