How has coach Park Hang-seo dominated Southeast Asian football over the past two years?
(Baonghean.vn) - Coach Park Hang-seo officially took over the position of head coach of the Vietnam national team in October 2017. After more than 2 years, the Korean coach has brought resounding success to Vietnamese football and become a phenomenon in Southeast Asia.
M-150 Cup 2017
At this tournament, Coach Park Hang-seo officially started his first work. The U23 Vietnam team was in Group B with Myanmar and Uzbekistan. The Vietnam team defeated Myanmar 4-0, but lost to Uzbekistan 1-2, then Vietnam defeated host Thailand 2-1 in the third place match thanks to a double from Nguyen Cong Phuong.
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| Coach Park Hang-seo. Photo: NK |
AFC U23 Championship 2018
The AFC U23 Championship in Changzhou was truly a milestone for Coach Park Hang-seo during his time leading the Vietnam national team. In a tournament that Vietnamese fans seemed to not care much about when the Vietnam U23 team left, Coach Park and his team lost 1-2 to the South Korean U23 team in the opening match.
Then, U23 Vietnam defeated U23 Australia 1-0 and drew U23 Syria 0-0 in the group stage. In the quarter-finals, U23 Vietnam defeated a championship candidate, U23 Iraq, in a penalty shootout with a score of 5-3 (tied 3-3 after 120 minutes of play) and became the first Southeast Asian team to advance to the quarter-finals of a continental tournament.
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| The Vietnam U23 team has brought a breakthrough to the U23 Asian Cup and Vietnamese football. Photo: Tuan Huu |
Next, Vietnam defeated U23 Qatar 4-3 in the penalty shootout (2-2 draw after 120 minutes of play) to win a ticket to the final round. Losing to Uzbekistan 1-2, the runner-up position was the best result that the U23 Vietnam team achieved at the continental level. After the U23 Asian Cup, Vietnamese football officially introduced a series of world-class stars such as Quang Hai, Van Duc, Xuan Manh, Tien Dung...
Asian Games 2018 (Asiad 18)
At the 2018 Asian Games, Park Hang-seo led the Vietnamese Olympic team to the semi-finals for the first time after topping Group D, beating Bahrain 1-0 in the round of 16, beating Syria 1-0 in the quarter-finals and only losing to South Korea 1-3 in the semi-finals.
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| The U23 Vietnam team that participated in ASIAD 18. Photo: Duc Dong |
Then in the Bronze Medal match with UAE, the two teams drew 1-1 in the two official matches before the Vietnam Olympic team lost 3-4 in the penalty shootout. However, this is still a resounding achievement for Vietnamese football.
AFF Cup 2018
At the AFF Cup 2018, the Vietnam team and coach Park Hang-seo won 6 matches and drew 2 matches. In the semi-finals, the Vietnam team defeated the Philippines 2-1 in the first and second legs, and defeated Malaysia with a total score of 3-2 after 2 final matches (2-2 first leg, 1-0 second leg).
This is the second championship of Vietnamese football in the regional playground after 10 years of waiting.
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| Vietnam national football team happy with the AFF Cup 2018 trophy. Photo: Trung Kien |
Asian Cup 2019
At the 2019 Asian Cup – Asian Championship, the Vietnam team reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup and only lost to the Japanese team with a narrow score of 1-0. With this achievement, Coach Park Hang-seo is considered the best coach in the history of Vietnamese football.
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| Vietnam team at Asian Cup 2019. Photo: Tuan Huu |
AFC U23 Championship 2020 Qualifiers
In the 2020 AFC U23 Championship qualifying round, the Vietnam U23 team demonstrated their strength by winning 6-0 against Brunei, 1-0 against Indonesia, and a 4-0 victory against Thailand, thereby topping Group K and advancing straight to the final round of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship.
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| U23 Thailand easily lost to Vietnam at My Dinh. Photo: FA Thailand |
King's Cup 2019
At the King's Cup 2019 friendly tournament in Thailand, the Vietnam national team defeated Thailand 1-0 in the semi-final thanks to a header by Nguyen Anh Duc in the 90+4 minute, thereby advancing to the final against Curacao. This victory continues to demonstrate the charm of Coach Park Hang-seo every time he faces Thailand.
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| Que Ngoc Hai and his message to Thai fans at King's Cup 2019. Photo: FBNV |
World Cup 2022 Qualifiers
In 2019, Coach Park Hang-seo continued to lead the Vietnam National Team in Group G of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The Vietnam National Team opened with a goalless draw in Thailand, won 1-0 against Malaysia and defeated Indonesia 3-1.
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| Vietnam national football team defeated Indonesia 3-1 in Bali. Photo: Duc Dong |
Undefeated in Southeast Asia
After 2 years of leading Vietnamese football, Coach Park Hang-seo has brought back records such as being undefeated in Southeast Asia. Although 10 teams in Southeast Asia have changed 36 coaches. However, no one has been able to make Coach Park Hang-seo lose. Among them are names of high class such as Milovan Rajevac, Akira Nishino (Thailand) or Sven Goran Eriksson (Philippines).
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| Impressive achievements of coach Park Hang-seo. Graphics: Football + |
Vietnam's national team ranking also rose from 120th to 97th on the FIFA rankings. At the national team level with all opponents, the Vietnam national team played 23 matches (won 12, drew 8, lost 3). At the U23/Olympic level, coach Park Hang-seo and his team played 26 matches, won 16, drew 6, lost 4. Coach Park Hang-seo's winning rate with Vietnamese football is up to nearly 80%. Those are truly impressive numbers.
Que Ngoc Hai and Coach Park Hang-seo look dashing at the AFF Awards Ceremony
(Baonghean.vn) - A total of 16 awards will be presented at the AFF Awards Gala. Vietnam is expected to win awards in important categories such as best coach, player, and team.
