The story of 3 Korean coaches at AFF Cup 2022

Recently, Southeast Asian countries tend to prefer East Asian coaches with cultural proximity that will help increase success. Coaches from football backgrounds approaching continental level such as Korea and Japan have been put in the sights. Especially after the resounding success of coach Park and the Vietnamese team at the 2018 U23 Asian Finals, along with the consecutive failures of rival Thailand under European coaches.

Korean football ambassadors

AFF Cup 2022, there will be a "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Photo: Sunday Newspaper

In fact, Vietnam is not the first Southeast Asian football team to choose Korean coaches. The Brunei national team was once led by Korean coach Kwon Oh-son from 2007 to 2019. At the 2016 AFF Cup, the Cambodian national team was also led by coach Lee Tae-hoon but did not achieve much success. The Timor Leste women's team also fought with coach Lee Min-young at the 2022 AFF Cup.

It was not until Vietnam succeeded with Park Hang-seo that the top football teams in the region began to think of Korean coaches. The "Korean derby" that fans were most looking forward to took place on December 27 when Coach Park's Vietnam team faced Coach Kim's Malaysia in Group B. Both Coach Park and Coach Kim have helped their national teams achieve certain successes. Mr. Shin Tae-yong and the Indonesian team won the Silver Medal at the AFF Cup 2020 and the Bronze Medal at the 31st SEA Games.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kim Pan-gon is a new face who has not made much of an impression. With Mr. Kim, the Malaysian team has won the right to participate in the 2023 Asian Cup. That is a historic achievement, it took them 15 years to do this. But the 0-3 loss at My Dinh Stadium shows that the Korean coach has not changed the correlation between the two football backgrounds despite many changes in playing style. He left captain Safawi Rasid on the bench, changed the 3-4-3 formation to 4-3-3 and at many times changed it to 4-2-3-1 to proactively defend.

In reality, Van Hau and Tan Tai could not dribble the ball down the sideline in the 3-5-2 formation to create the sharp weapon as usual. But Tien Linh, with a header that hit the ground, opened the way for a big 3-0 victory. The level of the Malaysian players and the poor My Dinh pitch meant that despite having an early advantage, they could not equalize and instead lost more.

Which opponent to choose?

Vietnamese fans are looking forward to Mr. Park Hang-seo “collecting debt” from Mr. Shin Tae-yong. Photo: Sunday Newspaper

It seems that Coach Park Hang-seo and his players will not have difficulty winning the top ticket of Group B. It is not until the semi-finals against Thailand and Indonesia that Que Ngoc Hai and his players will face difficulties. Coach Shin Tae-yong,Alexandre Pölking are both formidable opponents and have made things difficult for Mr. Park. Mr. Shin Tae-yong had extremely reasonable tactics to help Indonesia, who were rated lower than the Vietnamese team, get a valuable draw, pushing Vietnam to meet Thailand at the AFF Cup 2020.

The Korean newspaper Sunday Newspaper has likened that at the AFF Cup 2022, there will be a "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" appearing. Mr. Park is temporarily leading 1-0. More than ever, Vietnamese fans are looking forward to Mr. Park Hang-seo "getting revenge" on Mr. Shin Tae-yong, a compatriot and close friend of his. After 2 wins, including a big win over Brunei, Thailand and Indonesia will have the "final" match of Group A, the losing team will meet Vietnam. Which team do you want Vietnam to meet in the final of the AFF Cup 2022?