[Official] 'Vietnam Myth' Coach Park Hang-seo Returns! Rejecting Multiple Offers, He Takes Charge of Thailand League's Kanchanaburi... To Lead from July After the World Cup

*This content was translated by AI.

Coach Park Hang-seo (67), who wrote the myth of Vietnamese football, begins another great challenge on the Thai stage.

Park Hang-seo's agency, DJ Management, officially announced on the 25th that "Coach Park Hang-seo, currently serving as the head of the South Korea national football team's World Cup delegation, has been appointed as the official head coach of Kanchanaburi Power FC in Thailand's second division and will start a new project."

However, Coach Park Hang-seo is scheduled to lead the new team starting in July. The agency explained, "Coach Park Hang-seo places the highest priority on his responsibilities as the head of the South Korea national football team's World Cup delegation," and added, "It was agreed that his appointment with Kanchanaburi will take place after the World Cup schedule in July."

Coach Park Hang-seo is the protagonist who created the Vietnamese football myth and is regarded as the top coach in Southeast Asia. Since being appointed as the head coach of the Vietnam national football team in 2017, he has achieved the AFF Championship title (2018) and the AFC U-23 Championship runner-up position (2018). He also led Vietnam to the 2018 Asian Games semifinals, the 2019 Asian Cup quarterfinals, two consecutive SEA Games gold medals, and the first-ever qualification for the FIFA World Cup Asian final round in Vietnamese history. On the domestic stage, he led Sangju Sangmu to win the K League 2 title and achieved two promotions.

Coach Park Hang-seo, who stepped down from the Vietnam helm in 2023, is returning to the coaching role through this appointment. According to his agency, after much deliberation among numerous offers from various countries, Coach Park Hang-seo chose to go to Thailand.

Kanchanaburi, the team Coach Park Hang-seo will lead, has experienced the joy of promotion and the pain of relegation in succession. They successfully achieved promotion to the second division for the 2024-2025 season but could not avoid relegation in the 2025-2026 season. However, Kanchanaburi has established a clear roadmap for re-promotion after one year, qualification for the AFC Champions League (ACL), and securing competitiveness in Asia, and for this purpose, they appointed Coach Park Hang-seo.

Until now, former South Korea national team player Lee Jung-soo served as the interim head coach of Kanchanaburi. The agency stated, "Coach Park Hang-seo plans to fully integrate the advanced Korean football system, including meal and nutrition management, physical conditioning, video analysis, and data-driven operations, onto the Thai stage."

Going forward, while leading Kanchanaburi, Coach Park Hang-seo will continue his connection with Vietnam. He will continue to contribute to the development of Vietnamese football through initiatives such as organizing pre-season training camps in Vietnam, youth exchanges, and projects to help promising players advance overseas.

Through his agency, Coach Park Hang-seo said, "Although there have been offers from various countries, including Vietnam, the reason I chose to go to Thailand is clear. It is a path that no one has fully succeeded in yet." He added, "The long-term vision presented by Kanchanaburi and their sincerity toward football rekindled my spirit of challenge. With the sense of responsibility representing Korean football, I will do my best as a leader connecting Thailand, Vietnam, and ultimately ASEAN football."

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*This content was translated by AI.