VietNamNet Bridge – Coach Henrique Calisto of the national football team doesn’t want to lead the team anymore though his contract signed with the Vietnam Football Federation is still effective until March 2013.
The coach said that the local media and some Vietnamese coaches were unfair when they assessed the failure of Vietnam at the AFF Cup 2010.
“I and my players tried our best but for many reasons, the team was not successful. But except for the VFF, others didn’t sympathize with me. They criticized and shifted responsibility onto me. I’ve been with Vietnam for more than ten years and our team won the Southeast Asian championship but after one failure, everyone turns their back on me. That pressure is terrible and I would like to resign,” the coach explained about his unexpected decision.
The VFF still wants the Portuguese coach to continue leading the nationals quad until his contract ends. According to VFF, though Vietnam was not successful at AFF Cup 2010, coach Calisto built a stable playing style for the team. However, Calisto doesn’t want to stay.
VFF Chair Nguyen Trong Hy said that VFF approved the coach’s resignation. The two sides will meet in the next few days to solve legal formalities.
Calisto is the most important person in the plan of the national team and the U23 team in the next two years. The VFF assigned him to lead U23 Vietnam at the 26th Southeast Asian Games. It will be very difficult for VFF to seek a substitute.
Coach Calisto came to Vietnam in 2001 as the chief coach of Dong Tam Long An. He helped the team win two V-League championships. In 2002, he took the Vietnamese national squad to the third place prize of Tiger Cup (previous name of AFF Cup). He once again was the chief coach of the national team in 2008 and led the team to the AFF Cup championship for the first time. In March 2010, he signed a 3-year contract with VFF, earning record high salary of $24,000/month. However, at the AFF Cup 2010, Vietnam could not defend its championship.
Many players of the national squad were shocked at the news.
“This afternoon (March 1) when I heard that Thay To (teacher To - the way that players call their beloved coach) suddenly said goodbye to the team, I’m very sad. He is one of the coaches who I love the most since I became a football player,” said halfback Thanh Luong, a key player of the national team.
“Perhaps all players in the team will feel the same because we cannot forget what he did for us whenever we grouped up. There are so many football playing techniques that many of us thought that they were perfect but it turned out that they were wrong. Thay To trained us very carefully. Sometimes he had a hot temper but we understood that he did that to help us get better”.
“I still remember that while we prepared for the AFF Cup 2008, our team failed very often but after games or during drillings, Thay To encouraged us and did something funny for us to laugh to ease our stress. But when we saw him smoking alone at night, we loved him very much. So we told each other to play well for him.”
“He is a hot-tempered person but I’ve never seen any coach who loves players like him. He is like a father rather than a football coach”.
“I’m shocked and sad when Thay To said goodbye to the team but that’s his decision and we have to respect it. Everywhere he goes to, we always wish him good health and good luck!” Thanh Luong said.
Striker Quang Hai said: “Without Thay To, I would have been a striker who can score goals but my personality and the sense of responsibility would not have been like this. I thank Thay To very much for teaching me these things.”
“I think Thay To is one of the best coaches that the national team has had. All players who worked with him have learned a lot, such as self-confidence and the spirit of fighting. He gave us the strength to strive and to devote. Let’s look at the national squad in recent years. We may have failed sometimes but we always played at our best”.
“It is very difficult for Vietnam to find such a whole-hearted coach like him. With all of my heart, I always wish Thay To to have great health and successes on his career!”
PV