AFF CUP 2022 and the unexpected ending

Thus, in 2 consecutive AFF Cups, the Vietnamese team could not overcome the Thai team of Coach Polking and this is the most notable "unfinished mission" of Mr. Park Hang-seo in 5 years of leading the red team.

Fierce fight in the match against Thailand in the AFF Cup 2022 final. Photo: Thanh Nien Newspaper

First of all, speaking specifically about the AFF Cup 2022, the task set for Mr. Park Hang-seo was to bring the Vietnamese team to the final, and he and his students completed it excellently when they passed the group stage with the top position, surpassing Indonesia for the first time in 26 long years, Van Lam did not concede any goals and Tien Linh was definitely one of the two top scorers (6 goals) of the tournament.

But in the 2 final matches against Thailand, everything really revealed about the force, about the tactics and defeat was inevitable. In fact, the Vietnam team only played well in 1 half, scoring 1 classy goal in the first leg at home. The rest, the wrong tactics in the second half of the first leg, the situation of the force was damaged due to injuries, loss of form, too much chaos in the second leg... made the Vietnam team both defend poorly, passively, and attack harmlessly.

If in the 2020 AFF Cup, Thailand had star Chanathip leading and causing Vietnam to encounter difficulties and failures, then in this 2022 AFF Cup, the change of position took place with a familiar person who used to play on the left wing, Theerathon. In the position of midfielder organizing the play, Theerathon really made the Vietnam team and Vietnamese fans "convinced" with his talent and bravery, continuously leaving his mark on 2 away goals, directly scoring the only goal in the second leg. With a star of that caliber, the surrounding satellites can easily promote their inherent strengths and the Thais winning the championship is extremely worthy, congratulations to Theerathon and the Thai players.

Meanwhile, the stars of the Vietnam National Team under Mr. Park Hang-seo are still there, but unfortunately they have not maintained their original form like in the time of Thuong Chau, the time of AFF Cup 2018. On the other hand, what brought success to Mr. Park Hang-seo and Vietnamese football in the past 3-5 years has made opponents angry and almost afterwards caused difficulties for the red-shirted army, in which the Thais are the ones with enough strength and experience to "guess" and neutralize all the strengths that have brought the Vietnam National Team to the top of the region in recent years.

It can be said that only Van Lam, Ngoc Hai, Tien Linh, to some extent Hung Dung, Hoang Duc, Tien Dung, Duy Manh, Thanh Chung... are still at their inherent height and class. Meanwhile, there are too many players who have lost their form for a long time such as: Van Duc, Van Thanh, Hong Duy, Tuan Anh, Tan Tai and most recently, most surprisingly, Quang Hai. Of the young, newly added players, only Thanh Binh is okay, while Tuan Hai, Viet Anh... cannot create peace of mind every time they are in the starting lineup or on the bench.

The defeat against the Thais, after all, is not surprising or “bitter” because of their class and experience and the problem is how they perform in each tournament. This defeat should be considered a valuable and necessary experience for Vietnamese football, after 5 years of resounding success, to know where it really is, what steps it needs to take to catch up with its regional rivals and reach out to the continent.

What Mr. Park Hang-seo has brought to Vietnamese football is extremely valuable, appreciated and continues to be promoted. But we must also fully and objectively acknowledge, especially after two consecutive AFF Cups that were unsuccessful or not completely successful, that this is not enough, never enough and if we do not change, we will quickly face even heavier failure. We will have to start a new journey, more difficult, sometimes with temporary failure but definitely must renew, do it again thoroughly to hope for something possible ahead.

Thank you Mr. Park Hang-seo and the Vietnamese players. What has happened, the great success and the unsatisfactory matches, including the unhappy ending... will forever remain in the minds of many Vietnamese, regional and continental football fans. I wish you luck on your future path. You have been an indispensable part of Vietnamese football, of the Vietnam-Korea relationship, not only in football but also in the friendship, solidarity and sharing between our two peoples...