Park Hang-seo's Vietnam to face reigning champions Thailand in AFF Championship final

Vietnam’s Park Hang-seo is the sole Korean manager to reach the final of the AFF Championship, beating Shin Tae-yong’s Indonesia in the semifinal as Kim Pan-gon’s Malaysia fell to defending champions Thailand on the other side of the bracket.

Vietnam's head coach Park Hang-seo reacts during a match against Thailand at the Southeast Asian Games on May 22, 2022. [AP/YONHAP]

Vietnam’s Park Hang-seo is the sole Korean manager to reach the final of the AFF Championship, beating Shin Tae-yong’s Indonesia in the semifinal as Kim Pan-gon’s Malaysia fell to defending champions Thailand on the other side of the bracket.

Thailand beat Malaysia 3-0 on Tuesday, coming behind from 1-0 down on aggregate to earn the final spot in the final and end what turned out to be a Korean manager-dominated semifinal.

Park’s Vietnam had earlier drawn 0-0 with Indonesia in the first leg of the semifinal, but came back to win 2-0 in the second leg on Monday, setting up the Vietnam vs. Thailand final.

Although there is now only one Korean left standing, the presence of the three seasoned coaches in the semifinals very clearly highlighted the role that Korean managers are playing in advancing Southeast Asian football. Park, Shin and Kim have all held senior positions with Korea’s Taeguk Warriors and took that experience with them to their various Southeast Asian postings.

Vietnam's Nguyen Quang Hai celebrates with his teammate during a semifinal match against Indonesia at the AFF Championship in Hanoi, Vietnam on Monday. [AP/YONHAP]

Of the three, Park has perhaps the highest 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.

Shin is also a very familiar face to Korean football fans. Capped 23 times for the national team as a player, Shin spent his entire Korea in the K League with Seongnam.

He later managed Seongnam, before briefly taking over as a caretaker manager for the national team in 2014 and assisting Uli Stielike until 2017. Shin managed both the Korean U23 and U20 teams, before taking the helm of the senior squad in 2017 and through the 2018 Russia World Cup.

He joined Indonesia in 2020, leading the team to the final of the AFF Championship that year. In 2022, Indonesia qualified for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in 16 years.

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.

Park and the Vietnam squad will now face Thailand, led by Brazilian-German manager Alexandré Pölking, in the AFF Championship final. Like the semifinals, the final is played over two legs starting on Friday. The second leg will be played on Monday, Jan. 16.

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