Mr. Park Hang-seo with 2,000 days without rest

Every joy must come to an end to continue a new journey. Many new joys and sorrows will come, but the deep memories of a teacher who devoted himself to Vietnamese football, bringing Vietnamese football to the top of the region and to the continent as Mr. Park Hang-seo has done, will never fade in the minds of his "favorite children", of the numerous fans in Vietnam and the region, in Korea, even his famous "defeated generals", forever after...

Journey of nearly 2,000 days without stoppingThat break (exactly 1,924 days, from October 11, 2017 to January 16, 2023) of Mr. Park Hang-seo was marked by memorable and unique "peaks" of Vietnamese football. Those were the runner-up position of U23 Vietnam 2018, fourth place in ASIAD 2018, champion of AFF Cup 2018, gold medal of SEA Games 2019, runner-up of King Cup 2019, quarter-final of ASIAN Cup 2019, third qualifying round of World Cup 2022, gold medal of SEA Games 2021, runner-up of AFF Cup 2022. At the Southeast Asian level, Mr. Park Hang-seo achieved the achievement of leading the Vietnamese team to 34 consecutive unbeaten matches, 1,156 consecutive days in the top 100 of FIFA rankings. The winning rate of the team under Mr. Park Hang-seo is 49% (26 wins, 12 draws and 15 losses)...

Those are certainly impressive statistics of Vietnamese football under Park Hang-seo, which no foreign or domestic coach who has worked with him can compare to, are high milestones that overwhelm those who come after and are very difficult to overcome. But there are things that cannot be counted, cannot be expressed in words about the countless impressions, emotions that surge, linger, and are deeply engraved in the hearts of fans in general over the past 5 years about Mr. Park Hang-seo - the person - the heart - the courage - the belief in victory and many other things.

Now is the moment no one wants after 2000 days of non-stop work of Mr. Park Hang-seo with Vietnamese football and most of all with Vietnamese people at home and abroad, with fans in Korea, his homeland: the moment of farewell.

Mr. Park Hang-seo spoke of his “heartbroken” and “sad” feelings when reaching these moments and believes that these words for him and for us are not enough, will never be enough to express his heart and feelings after the deep fate with his “lover-Vietnamese football”, a rare fate, rarely seen in this world.

Vietnamese football is becoming more and more professional and only the professional path can achieve the expected victory as in the past. But the more professional with the work, with the assigned tasks, the more the Asian personality of Mr. Park Hang-seo and his Korean assistant team shows strongly, deeply, affectionately, more connected, creating strength in a team that he leads, about the unconditional, boundless support that experts and fans give to Mr. Park Hang-seo and his teams.

The two opposing sides smoothly connected in one person, after all, is not only the story of the leading football nations in the continent such as Korea, Japan... but also a vivid image of the miraculous development of the "Asian Dragons" that the whole world has witnessed. Vietnamese football has chosen not only the right teacher but also the right direction and way of doing things, to gradually reach new heights, starting from Mr. Park Hang-seo and then, and after that.

Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, a special fan of Mr. Park Hang-seo, said very reasonably and emotionally before the second leg of the AFF Cup 2022 final that "I think less about whether the Vietnamese team wins or loses, but more about the sadness on his face and in his eyes" for 3 reasons: 1) He has made Vietnamese football have an extremely important turning point...2) He has truly devoted himself to Vietnamese football as if he were giving it to his own national team...3) He has created real beauty on and off the Vietnamese football field that no one before him has ever done..." (personal page, January 16, 2023)

That is why the farewell, the farewell is so difficult, so difficult to say to Mr. Park Hang-seo after 2000 days of non-stop fighting and winning, to move on, to stand up after every hardship, sadness and worry. I wish Mr. Park Hang-seo good health, luck, and time to be close to his longing old mother, and his loyal and sharing wife. Let us happily welcome the new year, turn a new page and always be together firmly, warmly, and affectionately to move towards an open future, full of hope./.