Why did Coach Gong bid farewell to U23 Vietnam?
Coach Gong was signed by the VFF to a one-year contract from March 2022, as a solution to extinguish the fire after Coach Park Hang-seo withdrew from the U23 team. In the first tournament - the AFC U23 Championship 2022 final round, the Korean leader made a strong impression with his confident and consistent attacking style. Vietnam thus drew Thailand, Korea and won Malaysia, before stopping in the quarterfinals because they lost to Saudi Arabia - the team then won.
Due to Asiad 19, scheduled to be held in China, postponed due to Covid-19, Mr. Gong returned to Korea to complete the AFC Pro coaching course. When he returned to Vietnam, he regularly attended professional tournaments and national youth tournaments to select forces for Vietnam U23, serving the 32nd SEA Games and the Asian U23 qualifying round that will take place in 2023.
After the 9th VFF Congress, the two sides discussed the future, with the direct participation of Mr. Gong. But due to not being able to find a common voice, the 47-year-old leader agreed to leave three months before the deadline so that VFF would have time to find a replacement and prepare for upcoming tournaments, but in the immediate future, SEA GAmes in Cambodia. in May 2023.
Coach Gong's representative, Mr. Lee Dong-jun shared with MetaSports on the morning of December 13: "Due to the difference in goals and vision, Coach Gong and VFF do not continue to stick together. This has nothing to do with this. money, it's just a matter of expertise. In football, it's also very common to get along."
According to the plan, Coach Park Hang-seo will say goodbye to the Vietnamese team after the AFF Cup 2022. Therefore, the VFF Standing Committee decided to choose a new leader who can concurrently hold both the national team and the U23 team. According to the explanation of VFF leaders, the two teams have a close relationship, many members share the same, so it is necessary to synchronize the gameplay. He also said that the tournaments of U23 and the team often take place in close proximity to each other, so it is necessary for a coach to hold two teams.
Some other sources also said that under the same DJM agency, Coach Park's decision to leave partly influenced the choice of Coach Gong. Currently, the Korean leader is receiving a number of offers from V-League clubs.
While playing, Gong played as a striker, mainly in the Daejeon Citizen shirt in the K-League (10 years). He played a total, 319 games, scored 43 goals. After retiring, he switched to coaching. Before coming to Vietnam, he worked as an assistant coach for the Shenzhen club (2015), Seoul E-Land (2021), the Korean U17, U20, U23 team, the Indonesian team (2020) and directly led the Korean U18 team. 2016) and Indonesia U20 (2020).
