Park Hang-seo shortlisted for Malaysia national football coach position

Park Hang-seo as the coach of Vietnam national football team in 202. Photo by VnExpress/Hieu Luong.

According to New Straits Times, FAM vice president Datuk Yusoff Mahadi confirmed the news at a meeting on Monday.

Malaysia have been without a head coach since mid-July, when Kim Pan-gon resigned for "personal reasons" despite still having 1.5 years left on his contract. After getting the chance to be released early, the South Korean coach immediately returned home to manage Ulsan Hyundai, angering FAM president Hamidin Amin and Malaysian football fans.

FAM then appointed assistant coach Paul Marti Vicente as interim manager. The Spanish coach helped Malaysia beat the Philippines 2-1 and Lebanon 1-0 last month, winning the 2024 Merdeka Cup at home. FAM has agreed to let Vicente coach the national team until after the 2024 AFF Cup and then evaluate the process before deciding on his future.

"Vicente's advantage over other candidates is that he has been with us for a while and understands the culture here," Mahadi said. "This is an important factor in deciding the next coach."

In August, FAM president Datuk Amin revealed that Park had applied for the position of Malaysia head coach, but Park's representative Lee Dong-jun denied it.

FAM is said to offer the new coach a salary of 200,000 Malaysian ringgit ($47,000) per month. "That money is for a coach who can take the team to the next level and we would rather do that than pay 100,000 ringgit to someone who doesn't deliver results," Mahadi said at the press meet.

This salary is more than double what the previous Malaysia head coach Kim received. It is almost the same as the record salary that Park received after he renewed his contract with Vietnam in November 2019.

Park, 66, is widely regarded as the greatest coach of Vietnamese football. He arrived in Vietnam at the end of 2017 and immediately changed the football scene here. Under his leadership, Vietnam achieved numerous successes, including a silver medal at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, victory in the 2018 AFF Cup, gold medals at the 2019 and 2021 SEA Games, and advancement to the third round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Vietnam also maintained their position in FIFA’s top 100 and led Southeast Asia throughout his tenure.

Since his contract ended in January 2023, Park has not taken on a new team, despite being linked to positions in India, other Southeast Asian countries, Vietnamese clubs, and even as an interim coach for his home country’s national team. So far, he has only accepted an advisor role in Vietnam's second division, opened a training academy, and participated in commercial activities.

According to sources close to Park, he intends to lead another team before retiring, and he is carefully considering his potentially final position to ensure it is a meaningful one.