Coach Park Hang-seo of U23 Vietnam (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Men's football at the 31st SoutheastAsian Games (SEA Games 31) does not only attract the attention of SoutheastAsian audiences but also fans of the Republic of Korea (RoK).
This is understandablebecause there are two Korean coaches participating in this tournament. They arecoach Park Hang-seo of U23 Vietnam and coach Shin Tae-yong of U23Indonesia.
Immediately after U23 Vietnam defeated U23 Malaysia in the semifinal match andwon the ticket to play in the final, the Korean press congratulated coach Parkand expressed regret when coach Shin's team couldn't advance into the final.
Sport Seoul newspaperpublished an article with an opening sentence: "In the end, only the'Original Hallyu' can smile". This is a statement full of hidden meanings.The author of the article, reporter Jung Da Woo, implicitly appreciates the65-year-old strategist who is the motivator of the trend of hiring Korean coachesin Southeast Asia since 2018 and has brought many positive changes to regionalfootball.
Coach Park and his players wonwhen they got ticket to the final match against U23 Thailand, while coach Shin’ssquad has stopped in the semi-finals and will compete for the bronze medal in amatch against U23 Malaysia.
The same day, Chosun daily expressedregret when U23 Indonesia team of Shin Tae-yong lose to U23 Thailand. Accordingto the newspaper, "the dream final match between two Korean coaches, ParkHang-seo and Shin Tae Yong, has disappeared". Now, only U23 Vietnam playU23 Thailand in the final match./.
