[스포츠한국 김성수 기자] Coach Park Hang-seo (64), who completed her journey as the Vietnamese national soccer team’s coach for more than five years, received a special gift.
Vietnamese media Dang Kongsan reported on the 17th, “Director Park Hang-seo and his wife received lifetime free round-trip business class tickets from Vietnam Airlines from Korea to Vietnam.”
Head coach Park Hang-seo laid down the baton of the Vietnam national soccer team, which he had held since October 2017, following the 2022 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Mitsubishi Electric Cup final. Coach Park’s Vietnam lost to Thailand 2-3 on aggregate in the first and second matches of the final and finished the tournament as runner-up.
However, the achievements Park Hang-seo has made so far in Vietnam have been enormous. The first FIFA World Cup final in Vietnamese football history (2022 Qatar World Cup), the first Asian Games semi-finals in football history following Vietnam’s reunification (2018 Asian Games), AFF Cup victory in 10 years (2018 AFF Cup), Southeast Asia in 60 years (SEA) It is coach Park who left a bold footprint such as winning the game (2018).
The Vietnamese people were just grateful to coach Park Hang-seo, who made Vietnam, which was barren for soccer, the best in Southeast Asia. In the first leg of the AFF Cup Final once morest Thailand, which was Coach Park’s last home game, many fans visited My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam, and expressed their gratitude through coach Park Hang-seo’s picture and a sign with ‘THANK YOU’ written on it.
Vietnam’s appreciation for manager Park Hang-seo did not end there. On the followingnoon of the 17th, when the Vietnamese national soccer team was on its way home, Vietnam Airlines presented coach Park with a round-trip business class flight ticket between Korea and Vietnam as a gift.
Vietnam Airlines said, “Director Park Hang-seo will finish directing the Vietnamese national team at the end of the 2022 AFF Cup, but Vietnamese fans’ love and respect for Coach Park will last forever.” I believe it will be a meaningful gift for you.”
On the other hand, director Park Hang-seo said at a video conference with domestic reporters on the 17th that he would not take administrative positions or director positions in Korea and Vietnam. However, he left the possibility of other foreign manager positions open.
