Park hang-seo's Vietnam wins clash of the Korean coaches

Park Hang-seo [AP/YONHAP]

Park Hang-seo’s Vietnam beat Kim Pan-gon’s Malaysia 3-0 at the Asean Football Federation Championship on Tuesday, climbing up to the top spot in Group B with two wins.

Vietnam pulled ahead in the middle of the first half with a 28th minute goal from Nguyen Tien Linh, with Que Ngoc Hai and Nguyen Hoang Duc each adding one more in the second half for a 3-0 win.

The loss does little to disrupt Malaysia’s chances in the competition at this stage, with the Tiger of Malaya still sitting in second place in Group B with two wins and a loss.

Tuesday’s game was a rare chance to see two Korean managers clash outside of Korea, with Vietnam manager Park and Malaysia manager Kim well-known figures in Korean football.

Of the two Korean coaches, Park has a far higher profile, having been assistant coach of Korea during the 2002 World Cup. Since joining Vietnam Park has quickly become a national hero and the face of a momentous football reformation in Vietnam.

Park, who was also in charge of the U-23 side, started off leading Vietnam to the final of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, beating stronger teams like Australia, Iraq and Qatar along the way. A couple of months later he led the senior team to the semifinals of the 2018 Asian Games, then followed that up with the win at the 2018 AFF Championship.

A year later, Vietnam reached the quarterfinals at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and won a gold medal at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Nearly all of these feats were either a first for Vietnam, or at least a first since the country was unified.

But the AFF Championship will be Park’s last tournament with Vietnam. He plans to step down after five years at the helm of the team in January next year.

Kim is a less prominent coach, having spent a large part of his playing career and his managerial career in Hong Kong. After years as a coach he entered the limelight in 2017 when he was appointed technical director of the Korea Football Association, taking responsibility for the recruitment of Korean national team coaches.

Kim spent five years with the Korean national team before being hired as head coach of the Malaysian squad in January this year. He has already seen some success in Vietnam, leading the squad to qualify for next year’s AFC Asian Cup for the first time in 42 years.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]