Vietnam soccer team coach Park Hang-seo (pictured)’s ‘Last Dance’ partner has been decided as his biggest rival. Coach Park and the Vietnamese national soccer team prepare for a spectacular farewell with a victory over Thailand.
The Vietnam national soccer team, led by coach Park, will play the first leg of the 2022 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Mitsubishi Electric Cup (Mitsubishi Cup) final against Thailand at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam at 9:30 pm on the 13th. After that, on the 16th at 9:30 pm, the second leg of the final will be played away, and the winning team will be determined by the combined score of the first and second legs. If the aggregate score does not result in a winner, an overtime period is played. If there is still no winner, a penalty shoot-out will be conducted. 메이저놀이터
Coach Park plans to lay down the baton in Vietnam after this tournament, so this final is his farewell stage. Vietnam, which was classified as a mid-tier team in Southeast Asia, quickly emerged as a strong player in the region under the leadership of coach Park, who took office in September 2017. In particular, winning the 2018 Suzuki Cup (now Mitsubishi Cup), which is called the “World Cup in Southeast Asia,” for the first time in 10 years, served as an opportunity for Vietnam to become the undisputed strongest team in Southeast Asia under the guidance of Park.
Since then, Vietnam has been on the rise, such as advancing to the Asian final qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and has achieved remarkable results, such as entering the top 100 in the FIFA rankings for the first time in history. Coach Park and Vietnam will win the Mitsubishi Cup this time to reaffirm their status as ‘the strongest in Southeast Asia’ and try to end their 5-year partnership. Coach Park said at a press conference after the second leg of the semifinal against Indonesia, “Vietnamese players are one step above other Southeast Asian teams.”
The opponents in the finals are formidable. Thailand is the only team that does not recognize Vietnam as the best in Southeast Asia.
Thailand, which holds the record for the most victories by winning the Mitsubishi Cup six times, was the leader in Southeast Asian football before coach Park took office as coach of Vietnam. Their league has the best box office performance in all of Asia, and compared to any other country in Southeast Asia, it has laid the foundation for football well.
It is true that Vietnam has risen to become the strongest country in Southeast Asia after Park took over, but it is difficult to say that it completely overpowered Thailand. After coach Park took over the Vietnam national soccer team, the A national team was completely tight against Thailand with 1 win, 3 draws and 1 loss. However, after a 2-0 victory in the 2019 King’s Cup semifinals, they were pushed back to 3 draws and 1 loss in 4 matches. In particular, in the semifinals of the 2020 Suzuki Cup held last year, the
Thailand scored 13 goals in the group stage with leading striker Tirasil Dangda (six goals) and joker Adisak Kryson (two goals). In the semi-finals, they lost 0-1 to Malaysia led by Kim Pan-gon in the first match, but won 3-1 in the second match at home by scoring three goals.
Thailand’s offensive power is threatening, and Vietnam’s strength is a strong defense that did not concede a single goal in this tournament and a counterattack that attacks the opponent’s backspace. It is also an advantage that Vietnam was given more rest time as it held the semifinals a day earlier than Thailand.