Fox Sports: "Vietnam belongs to the biggest arena in Asia"

Vietnam's journey ended with a 0-1 loss to Japan. AboveFox Sports, commentator Gabriel Tan wrote an article praising what coach Park Hang Seo and his team have done:

"Before the Asian Cup, there was no shortage of talk about Vietnamese football. People talked about a rising generation that showed its potential by finishing as runner-up in the U23 Asian Cup, about new star Nguyen Quang Hai - who continued to affirm his position among the most promising young players in Asia by leading Vietnam to the semi-finals of the Asian Games, or about the team that just ended a decade of waiting for the Southeast Asian throne by winning the 2018 AFF Cup.

And, after those stories, Vietnam once again surpassed its past achievements in 3 weeks of competition at the Asian Cup.

Vietnamese football has continuously delighted fans over the past year.

On the evening of January 24, Vietnam's dream had to stop with a minimal defeat in the quarterfinals against the Japanese giant. The deciding goal came from a penalty that was reviewed by VAR.

Certainly in terms of playing style, Japan is much more classy than Vietnam. But on the scoreboard, the difference between the team that has participated in the World Cup six times, won the Asian Cup four times and the team that is participating for the second time is only a penalty.

We cannot deny that Vietnam was a bit lucky to reach the round of 16 thanks to the Fair Play index. However, Vietnam deserves praise for being drawn into a difficult group, where they had to face strong candidates Iran, 2007 champions Iraq and Yemen. In the first two matches that Vietnam were expected to lose, coach Park Hang-seo showed excellent leadership. They took the lead twice against Iraq, then only lost 2-3 with a decisive free kick in the 90th minute. They also only lost to Iran with an acceptable score of 0-2. When meeting Yemen in a match that was predicted to win, Vietnam did not disappoint fans with a 2-0 victory.

Vietnam’s progress became more interesting when they met Jordan in the round of 16. Against the surprise package of the group stage (Jordan was also the first team to qualify for the round of 16 after defeating defending champions Australia and Syria), Vietnam once again upset all predictions. After a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes, Park Hang-seo’s team won 4-2 in the penalty shootout.

Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian team to enter the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup.

That move put Vietnam in the quarterfinals against Japan. And even though they lost to stars playing in Europe such as Maya Yoshida, Yuya Osako, Yuto Nagatomo or Ritsu Doan, the "Golden Dragons" still deserved the praise.

When Vietnam returns home, they will have more stories to tell. And those stories will not only be less speculative, but more affirmative. Vietnam has proven that they belong in Asia’s biggest arena.

Let's keep talking about how Coach Park Hang-seo develops young players. Let's keep talking about the generation of Quang Hai, Cong Phuong, Van Hau who are capable of playing in Europe after a few years. Let's keep talking about how Vietnam is the current King of Southeast Asian football, even far ahead of the rest. Let's keep talking until Vietnam once again has to prove they belong on the big stage, which we won't have to wait too long for. On September 5, the 2022 World Cup qualifiers for the Asian region will begin."

Fans will continue to wait for the day when the Vietnamese team reunites with the Asian giants.