Former Vietnam national soccer team coach Park Hang-seo has denied that he is applying for the Indian national team’s head coaching job.
However, he said that he is considering India as one of the candidates for his next job and is still thinking about it.
Park’s management company, DJ Management, said on Sept. 29, “Park has not applied for the Indian national team head coach position.”
The previous day, local media, including the Times of India, reported that Park had applied for the now-vacant Indian national soccer team head coaching position.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) reportedly received 214 applications for the new national team coach, including Park’s.
DJ Management clarified that Park never applied for the job.
Nevertheless, the company says that the 214 applications were all “self-submitted,” meaning that Park was likely nominated by fans and others.
A representative from DJ Management said, “The request to ‘apply in India’ came from multiple sources. It is understood that there is interest in Park in India,” said a representative from DJ Management.
Regardless of the direct application, it’s clear that Park is considering India as an option as he searches for the next stage in his leadership career, DJ Management said.
With the world’s most populous nation of more than 1.4 billion people, the company believes India has the potential to develop in soccer and has been in communication with Indian officials.
India, ranked 124th in the FIFA rankings, finished third in Group A in the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North and Central American World Cup in the middle of this month, failing to qualify for the third round, and subsequently parted ways with coach Igor Stimac (Croatia).
Park, who assisted Gus Hiddink (Netherlands) as an assistant coach and helped South Korea reach the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup in Korea-Japan, has made a mark on the Vietnam national team since taking charge from 2017 until January last year.
The 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship saw the team reach its first-ever final and the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup (now the Mitsubishi Cup) was won for the first time in a decade, making Park a “national hero” in Vietnam.
At the 2019 Asian Cup, he reached the quarterfinals and later won gold at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the region’s largest multi-sport competition.
Ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he led Vietnam to the final qualifying round in Asia for the first time ever. 메이저놀이터