The South Korean Dong-a Ilbo press just wrote the match between Park Hang Seo and Thailand head coach Akira Nishino at AFC Champions League 2008.
After the "massive" contract between FAT and the talented Japanese coach Akira Nishino announced, Korean media suddenly recounted the fate with Park Hang-seo.
In the 2008 AFC Champions League qualifying round, Gamba Osaka’s Akira Nishino fought Chunnam Dragons’s Park as coaches. Akira Nishino’s men then defeated Mr. Park’s side 4-3 on away field and drew 1-1 at home, causing Park side unqualified for the group stage.
However, the situations of Mr. Park and Mr. Akira Nishino were very different then. Chunnam Dragons is just a mid-level team in the K-League and came to the AFC Champions League thanks to the National Cup championship. Meanwhile, Gamba Osaka was a giant in Japan, often in the top 3 in the J-League and joined in the AFC Champions League. In 2008, during the peak of Gamba Osaka, Coach Akira Nishino brought his team to a championship after their victory over Park Hang-seo’side.
Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said that it is no coincidence that Thai people choose Akira Nishino to sit in that position since their biggest rival Vietnam has coach Park Hang-seo. Compared to the Vietnam head coach, Thailand new head coach possesses much superior achievements in both footballer career and coaching career at club and national level. Therefore, the upcoming matches between Vietnam and Thailand at U23 level or the national team will be extremely worth waiting both players and coaches.
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