Park Hang-seo head smoothly to 2nd consecutive AFF Championship win

Vietnamese national football team manager Park Hang-seo and Indonesian national football team manager Shin Tae-yong aim to win the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship, which is known as the ‘World Cup of Southeast Asia.’

The Vietnamese national football team led by Park won the first round of Group B against Laos with a score of 2-0 held at the Bishan Stadium in Singapore on Monday. Vietnam won the 2018 Championship under the lead of Park for the second time in history and the first time since 2008. The AFF Championship was originally scheduled for last year but delayed due to COVID-19 before beginning on Sunday.

Vietnam is ranked at the bottom of Group B with six losses for the Asian preliminary matches for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. However, their skills improved with the experiences at the preliminary matches and outperformed Laos. “I am satisfied with the results,” Park said. “Some players were injured during the World Cup preliminary matches and could not play for the game.”

The biggest hurdle for Vietnam’s second consecutive AFF Championship win is Indonesia led by Shin. Vietnam and Indonesia are both in Group B. For the championship, 10 countries compete against each other in two groups. The first and second-ranked teams of each group compete in the semifinals. Vietnam and Indonesia will have a match on December 15. Before the game, Indonesia will play against Cambodia on Thursday and Laos on Sunday. Vietnam will play against Malaysia on Sunday.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com