Director Park Hang-seo (left) and director Shin Tae-yong. yunhap newsThe first confrontation of the new year between the Korean commanders ended in a draw.
Vietnam, led by coach Park Hang-seo, and Indonesia, led by coach Shin Tae-yong, drew 0-0 in the first leg of the semifinals of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) Mitsubishi Cup held at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia on the 6th (local time).
The Mitsubishi Cup semifinals are played home and away. If a winner is not decided by the second leg, overtime and penalty shoot-out will proceed. The away goals rule does not apply. Vietnam and Indonesia will play the second leg on the 9th at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The battle of nerves was heated even before the start of the match.
The match was originally scheduled for 9:30 p.m. local time. However, the kick-off was delayed by 3 hours at the request of the home team Indonesia Football Association. The game time was changed due to safety concerns. In response, coach Park Hang-seo expressed regret, saying, “I don’t know how the U-20 World Cup is held in Indonesia.”
Indonesia led the game in the first half and Vietnam in the second half, but no goals were scored. In the end, the first confrontation between the Korean commanders in the new year ended in a draw.
After the game, head coach Park Hang-seo and head coach Shin Tae-yong had a war of words. Even at the official press conference before the game, the two commanders did not shake hands, causing controversy.
Coach Park Hang-seo said following the game, “Indonesia is also a good team, but Vietnam is stronger. It is true that it has improved since coach Shin Tae-yong took the lead in Indonesia, but Vietnam still won more.” In fact, in the head-to-head match between the two command towers, coach Park Hang-seo is ahead with 2 wins and 2 draws.
In response, coach Shin Tae-yong refuted, “Vietnam is stronger, but why did we draw 0-0? (At the pre-press conference) I was going to shake hands, but coach Park turned around and I stopped too.”
Meanwhile, Vietnam is dreaming of Park Hang-seo Magic once more following winning the championship in 2018. Above all, this Mitsubishi Cup is the last tournament between coach Park Hang-seo and Vietnam. Indonesia challenges its first championship. After taking over as manager Shin Tae-yong, he recorded only six runner-up finishes in his career, including the runner-up in the last tournament.