Cambodia wants to hire coach Park Hang-seo

According to DJ Management - the company representing Mr. Park, the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) has invited this coach to lead the national team. "In addition to Cambodia, we have received many offers, such as in India," the company's representative added to the news agency.Yonhap"We have not decided yet, just observing the situation."

FFC wants to recruit coach Park before the AFF Cup (now ASEAN Cup) 2024 starts in November.

The Korean coach was very grateful for the offers from many sides, but was not in a hurry to accept.

Cambodia is a weak team in Southeast Asia, currently ranked 180th in the FIFA rankings. The team has previously hired lesser-known Korean coaches such as Yoo Kee-heung in 2007-2008, or Lee Tae-hoon in 2013-2017. The most famous coach to lead Cambodia is Japanese legend Keisuke Honda, from August 2018 to January 2023.

Cambodia’s best football achievement was the U23 team reaching the semi-finals of the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines. Meanwhile, the national team has never passed the group stage of the AFF Cup.

In 2024, Cambodia will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the construction of the National Football Training Center, to improve the quality of players, as part of the youth development program. The project has a vision until 2038. Accordingly, FFC wants to recruit prestigious coaches to help the team achieve good results at the SEA Games and AFF Cup, and go deep in the 2038 World Cup qualifiers.

Previously, Mr. Park was informedTimes of Indiaannounced that he was one of 291 coaches who applied to lead the Indian national team. However, the Korean coach said that they have never submitted an application, although they still consider India a potential and challenging destination.

Korean NewspaperSports TimesAt that time, he commented: "Coach Park and many candidates on the list of military leaders who can lead India, but it seems that they were introduced by fans. They tried to filter out coaches who are unemployed."

Mr. Park said goodbye to the Vietnam national team after his contract expired in January 2023, and announced that he would not return.

He has not accepted any coaching positions in the past, although he has been frequently linked with regional teams such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Coach Park was once on the list of candidates to be the interim coach after South Korea fired coach Jurgen Klinsmann due to failure at the 2023 Asian Cup. But the person chosen was Hwang Sun-hong.

Currently, Coach Park works at the Football Academy in Vietnam and is also an advisor for the Second Division Club Bac Ninh.

Mr. Park was an assistant to legendary coach Guus Hiddink when the Korean team reached the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. But he is more famous for his good achievements with Vietnamese football in the 2017-2023 period, including the second place in the U23 Asia, winning the 2018 AFF Cup, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup, entering the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup for the first time and winning gold medals at the 30th and 31st SEA Games. In addition, Vietnam maintained its position in the top 100 FIFA and led Southeast Asia during Mr. Park's time.