Vietnamese football’s historic Asiad semi-final berth echoed in international media

Vietnam’s first ever presence in the semi-finals at the Asian Games men’s football has been hailed by the regional media after the team’s 1-0 win over Syria in the quarter-final on August 27.

Super sub Nguyen Van Toan’s 108th minute goal sent Vietnam to the 2018 Asian Games Indonesia men's football semi-finals for the first time. (Photos: INASGOC)
Super sub Nguyen Van Toan’s 108th minute goal sent Vietnam to the 2018 Asian Games Indonesia men's football semi-finals for the first time. (Photos: INASGOC)

Vietnam and Syria finished goalless after 90 minutes and were forced to play 30 minutes of extra time to determine the winners. Super sub Nguyen Van Toan’s 108th minute goal sent Vietnam to the 2018 Asian Games Indonesia men's football semi-finals for the first time, according to an article on Asian Football Confederation’s official page.

The article praised Vietnam’s coach Park Hang-seo’s tactic in using their defensive capabilities to great effect in the tournament, advancing to the quarter-finals without conceding a single goal.

“Syria, who edged Palestine 1-0 in the Round of 16, had the lion’s share of possession and tested Vietnamese goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung numerous times but the Southeast Asians held a solid defence to keep both teams searching for the opening goal,” it said.

Meanwhile, the sports network Fox Sports Asia ran an article by Gabriel Tan, emphasising that Vietnam’s run at the Asian Games 2018 continues with the Republic of Korea (RoK) awaiting. In his article, Tan said that Vietnam are through to the semi-finals of Asian Games 2018 after the 1-0 extra-time win over Syria in the quarter-finals on Monday.

However, he warned that “another tough test awaits Park Hang-seo’s charges in the last four as they take on the Republic of Korea, who have already scored 14 goals in four games thus far and boast a formidable attack including Tottenham star Son Heung-min, Red Bull Salzburg’s Hwang Hee-chan and the tournament’s leading scorer Hwang Ui-jo, who has eight goals to his name at present.”

Park Hang-seo’s magic continues as he leads the Vietnam team to the Asian Games semis for the first time. (Photo: Yonhap News)

Meanwhile, the regional media are also surprised with the Vietnamese team’s victory. Thai Siamsport said that the Vietnamese football team has made history by advancing to the final four for the first time. Thai Rath used “stunned” to describe Vietnam’s win over Syria, saying Vietnam caused a shock in ASEAN by defeating Syria 1-0 in extra time to become one among the semi-finalists of the 18th Asian Games.

Thai Goal praised the “Golden star team” as the only team that have not lost in the tournament, while Matichon ran an article describing “Vietnam frantic” to beat Syria 1-0 and earn the Asian Games semis berth for the first time in their history.

In the RoK, most of the coverage after the Vietnamese team’s victory concerned the “magic” of coach Park. Joongang Daily described Park Hang-seo, 59, as a sports diplomat, who led Vietnam U23 team to the runners-up at the Asian championship in January this year.

In the Asian Games, “Park’s magic” is currently ongoing, it said, adding that the team beat Japan in the group stage and climbed to No. 1 position. After defeating Bahrain in the Round of 16 and Syria in the quarter-finals, it is the first time that Vietnam has made history to reach the final four at the Asian Games.

The daily continued by saying that Park can be a strict manager in the stadium, but outside the stadium he treats his players like his sons. There was a big cheer on Vietnamese social media as Park got a massage machine to soothe the injury in Vietnamese defender Dinh Trong’s foot.

Dinh Trong uploaded a video on social network praising a kindly Park when the coach used a massage machine to scare away anxiety on his foot after a match.

Kim Ji Han of Joongang.co.kr also said that Park Hang-seo’s magic showed its power again, adding that Park promised confident ahead of the confrontation with his home country Korea.

The article quoted Park as saying that: “My country is Korea. I love my country very much, but now I am the coach of the Vietnamese team.” Park added that both teams had to undergo extra time and it is important to mentally and physically recover. The RoK also narrowly beat Uzbekistan 4-3 in extra time to reach men's football semifinals.

Meanwhile, Baek Seung-ho of Huffingtonpost Korea described a “historic derby” for Park after leading Vietnam team to make a miracle and now a historic derby is unfurled as the RoK and Vietnam encounter with two Korean coaches in the coaching board.

Park Hang-seo is the man behind Vietnam’s football success at Asian Games this year. (Photo: Yonhap News)

Park and the RoK’s U-23 head coach Kim Hak-bum know each other very well, as they faced each other in the K League. But Park said business is business, Joo Kyung-don of Yonhap News reported.

"I've known him since the K League days and we're sharing the same hotel," he said. "As you know, he is such good tactician he's known as '(Alex) Ferguson of the K League.' As a colleague who spent time together in the K League, I assure you we'll play a great match tomorrow."

* Van Toan’s extra-time strike seals Vietnam a semifinal place

* Vietnamese hero Van Toan: “There is no need to fear the RoK”

* Park Hang-seo: “I will do my utmost to bring Vietnam to the final”

* Jubilant fans celebrate Vietnam’s first trip to Asiad semifinals

* PM congratulates Vietnam’s football team on Asian Games quarter-final win