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Park Hang-seo, head coach of the Vietnamese men's soccer team, on Dec. 10 is thrown into the air by his under-22 squad after it won the gold medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games at Rizal Memorial Stadium in the Philippine capital of Manila.


Park Hang-seo has led the Vietnamese men's under-22 (U-22) soccer team to its first gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games.

At Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, the Park-led squad on Dec. 10 defeated Indonesia, 3-0, in the final. The Golden Dragons thus won their first soccer title in the competition since it began in 1959.

This victory was also another big boost for "Park mania" that has gripped Vietnam given the nation's soccer success since he took over in October 2017.

VietNamNet, an online Vietnamese news outlet, on Dec. 10 lauded Park in an article titled "The Vietnamese U-22 soccer team attained the gold medal in SEA (Southeast Asian) Games: It made a new history," saying, "The long-yearned dream of getting a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games came true under the guidance of Coach Park Hang-seo."

"The victory could not have been braver or (more) memorable and brought joy to the hearts of millions of (Vietnamese) citizens."

Another Vietnamese media outlet, Tuoi Tre, on Dec. 11 said in an article headlined "Achieving the dream of a gold medal," "After 60 years of waiting, the Vietnamese men's soccer team finally achieved a gold medal in the SEA Games."

"This victory is derived from Coach Park's calculations and strategy of setting the opponent in a trap."


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The Vietnamese U-22 men's soccer team on Dec. 10 waves both the Vietnamese and Korean flags after defeating Indonesia, 3-0, in the final of the Southeast Asian Games at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, the Philippines.


In January last year, he took Vietnam's U-23 team to the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship, where it lost to Uzbekistan, 2-1, in overtime. In December of the same year, however, his squad claimed the AFF Suzuki Cup in a 3-2 aggregate win over Malaysia.

In November this year, Park signed a contract extension with the Vietnam Football Federation and promptly ended a 60-year drought for Vietnam with its first soccer gold in the Southeast Asian Games.

In the second Asian preliminaries for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Vietnam remains atop Group G with three wins and two draws.

Next up for Park and the Golden Dragons is the AFC U-23 Championship next month.


Korea.net