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Wounds are healed in My Dinh

1-0 is a thin score but enough to help Vietnamese football reverse in the history of facing Thailand at the SEA Games for nearly 30 years.

19 years ago, on a day without rain on the field of My Dinh, Vietnam, then coach Alfred Riedl was eager to meet Thailand. That was when the host came closest to defeating the Thais in a final. But its ending was extremely harsh: Riedl’s teachers and students equalized 1-1 in the final minute and then lost in extra time.





Midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc disputed with Thai players in the final of the 31st SEA Games at My Dinh Stadium on the evening of May 22.

Midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc disputed with Thai players in the final of the 31st SEA Games at My Dinh Stadium on the evening of May 22.

Football has strange coincidences. The 2005 SEA Games was held in the Philippines, which was the closest meeting between Vietnam and Thailand in the SEA Games final. And it was on that land in 2019, Vietnam won the SEA Games men’s football gold medal for the first time after eliminating Thailand in the group stage. In 2003, when hosting the SEA Games for the first time, Vietnam beat Malaysia in the semi-finals to compete for a gold medal with Thailand. And at this congress, the host met the Thais in the final match after defeating Malaysia.

Vietnamese football after reunification has three important milestones, and all are associated with Thai matches at the SEA Games arena, including the final in 1995, the final in 2003 and the final match in the group stage in 2017. is the starting point of three generations, creating a long journey to find victory over Thailand at SEA Games. That 27-year journey carried more bitterness than joy. In all 12 confrontations, Vietnam drew four and lost eight – including four times in the final.

Until yesterday, the wait ended at My Dinh Stadium. This is not the best match of the teams under Coach Park Hang-seo, but it is 90 minutes that Vietnamese fans have the right to believe in victory. It’s also not the best U23 team, but they certainly played the most perfect final that Vietnam has ever had against Thailand. Coach Park’s players won the SEA Games gold medal with a defense that didn’t concede a single time, in the journey to conquer the biggest rivals Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Thailand still shows that they are capable of creating a coup. They have equal ball control, have the opportunity to score first and are not too scared by the intense pressure from 40,000 spectators. But things were not the same as before. Coach Park’s team has the courage to control the tempo, patiently wait for the opportunity, and when they have it in hand, they don’t miss it. The second-half kick-off, Nham Manh Dung, was involved in two combinations of the same script in just five minutes. The ball from the edge was crossed by Phan Tuan Tai into the penalty area, passing the Thai defenders to open up opportunities. For the first time, Nham Manh Dung let the ball touch his hand, so he panicked and missed the opportunity. The second time, it was an unstoppable header. That was something that Thailand could not do in the final, and the victory belonged to Vietnam deservedly.





The player carries a photo of Coach Park, after defeating Thailand at the 31st SEA Games.

The player carries a photo of Coach Park, after defeating Thailand at the 31st SEA Games.

The difference, probably comes from Coach Park. The Korean military leader fulfilled his promise before he was no longer directly in charge of the U23 team. In his hand is the U23 generation, many of whom still play in the First Division. But he pushed them, turned them into warriors, ready to run continuously on the field to make up for the defects in playing skills. They disciplinedly complied with every request of the Korean leader. Vietnam played six matches at the 31st SEA Games, all ending the first half with a score of 0-0. It could be a coincidence, it could also be the calculations for Coach Park’s existing team. With this generation of players who are rarely rubbed, it will be difficult to remove if they are conceded early. And so Vietnam must give the highest priority to certainty.

But whatever the reason, Coach Park and Vietnam won the second consecutive gold medal, rewriting history in the confrontations with Thailand. And more importantly, that victory helps the successful era of Vietnamese football under his era remain as beautiful as when it began.

8 goals of Vietnam in SEA Games 31

*8 goals of Vietnam in SEA Games 31.

Song Viet

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