The bond connecting three generations of Vietnam's national football team coaches

What seemed like an ordinary friendly match in 2000 actually marked the beginning of a special connection in Vietnamese football history.

Sometimes, Asian football history creates unexpected intersections. Few would have guessed that the three most recent head coaches of Vietnam's national team – Park Hang-seo, Philippe Troussier, and Kim Sang-sik – share a memory from over two decades ago during a Japan–South Korea friendly held in Tokyo at the end of 2000.

Japan entered the match as the reigning Asian Cup champions, led by coach Philippe Troussier. On the opposite side, South Korean football was undergoing a transition. After a disappointing 2000 Asian Cup, they parted ways with coach Huh Jung-moo and appointed Guus Hiddink just two days before the match. Since the formalities were not complete, Hiddink couldn't lead directly, so assistant Park Hang-seo was assigned as interim coach for the challenging away game in Tokyo.

On the field, South Korea's starting lineup featured notable players like Hong Myong-bo, Lee Young-pyo, Lee Chun-soo, and Ahn Jung-hwan. Notably, 24-year-old center-back Kim Sang-sik started in the three-man defense.

South Korea started strong with Ahn Jung-hwan scoring at the 14th minute. However, the match's turning point came shortly after when Kim Sang-sik was the only player to retreat in time to block Atsushi Yanagisawa’s run. A foul from behind led to the young defender receiving a direct red card, leaving his team a player down very early.

On the sidelines, assistant Park Hang-seo couldn’t hide his concern. Standing nearby was doctor Choi Ju-young – who later became a familiar figure for Vietnam's national and U23 teams during their golden era from 2017 to 2023. Despite playing with a numerical advantage for most of the match, Japan only managed to equalize 1-1 through Toshihiro Hattori’s goal at the 56th minute. This was one of the rare matches in 2000 where Troussier’s team failed to capitalize on their extra player to win.

Interestingly, more than 20 years later, all three would successively lead Vietnamese football. Park Hang-seo ushered in a historic period of unprecedented success for Vietnamese football. Troussier followed but left little impact. Meanwhile, Kim Sang-sik, once sent off in Tokyo, now guides Vietnamese football to conquer new heights regionally and continentally.