Second place at 2018 AFC U23 Championships
Coach Park is tossed in the air as Vietnamese players celebrate their success at the tournament.
This was the first time Vietnam advanced to the final of a continental competition. In this tournament, Park first introduced the five-defender formation, which proved a recipe of success for Vietnamese football over half a decade.
Before the tournament, Vietnam's chance to pass the group stage was considered very small, grouped with South Korea, Australia and Syria.
But the team nearly drew with South Korea, scored a shocking victory over Australia before drawing against Syria. In the quarterfinals and semifinals, Vietnam bested Iraq and Qatar after penalty shootouts.
Park gives instructions at the final in Changzhou, China.
The final defeat to Uzbekistan in the snow at the last minute of extra time was painful, but created many iconic images.
Top four of 2018 Asian Games
A few months after the AFC U23 Championships, coach Park with those same players continued to create surprises at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. Park took full advantage of the three extra slots for overage players, when he called Nguyen Anh Duc, Nguyen Van Quyet and Do Hung Dung to solve the problems with the attacking line.
Coach Park celebrates Nguyen Cong Phuong's goal that helped Vietnam defeat Bahrain 1-0 in the round of 16.
In the group stage, the team overcame Nepal, Pakistan and defeated Japan at the youth level for the first time. After topping group D, Vietnam defeated Bahrain and Syria and only lost 1-3 against a strong South Korean with superstar Son Heung-min in the semifinals. The defeat in the bronze medal match against UAE in the penalty shootout was unfortune, but at least Vietnam equaled Thailand's best result in Asian Games (ranked fourth in 2014).
2018 AFF Cup victory
Coach Park is tossed in the air by his players in front of tens of thousands of home fans after Vietnam defeat Malaysia in the final.
Vietnam became champions at the 2018 AFF Cup, 10 years after their first title.
The team easily finished first in the group stage that included Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Malaysia. After that, they won against Philippines led by famous coach Sven Goran Eriksson in both legs of the semifinals.
Quarterfinalist of 2019 Asian Cup
In 2007, Vietnam entered the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup. 12 years later, the team did it again, this time with a tougher journey.
Flying high after the consecutive success at the AFC U23 Championship, Asian Games and AFF Cup, Vietnam quickly got back to the ground by two defeats against two big teams of West Asia, Iraq and Iran. But the 2-0 victory over Yemen helped Vietnam go through the narrow door to the next round as one of the best third-placed teams.
Park instructs the players before entering extra time of the match against Jordan.
Vietnam overcame Jordan in the round of 16 by penalty shootout.
Back to back SEA Games gold medals
A familiar celebration for oach Park as Vietnam won the SEA Games gold medal at home in May 2022.
Before coach Park came, the SEA Games men's football gold medal was an obsession of Vietnam for 60 years. With Park, they won two consecutive gold medals in the Philippines in 2019 and at home in 2022.
These achievements are a combination of the reasonable tactics from Park and the coaching staff, as well as the participation of talented young players. In these two tournaments, Vietnam were unbeaten with 11 wins and 2 draws.
Final round of 2022 World Cup qualifiers
This is the closest that Vietnamese football can get to the World Cup dream. Vietnam overcame 34 other teams to join 11 other names in the final qualifying round.
The team got past the second qualifying round in a group that has UAE, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, with five wins, two draws and one loss. With second place in the group behind UAE, Vietnam replaced Thailand as the leading team in Southeast Asia.
In the final qualifying round, Vietnam lost the first seven matches to Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Oman and China. But they can still go home with their heads held high after winning against China and drawing Japan in the last two matches. This is a valuable journey to know where Vietnam are standing compared to the top teams in Asia and continue nurturing the dream of playing at the world’s biggest football competition.
