In Southeast Asia, Korean leaders compete against each other in resourcefulness at the Mitsubishi Cup, which is comparable to the “World Cup”.
Vietnam, led by coach Park Hang-seo (63), and Malaysia, led by coach Kim Pan-gon (53), played the Group B match of the Southeast Asian Football Federation’s Mitsubishi Cup ( AFF) at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam at 21:30 (Korean time) on the 27th play
We are at the beginning of the tournament, but so far the two teams have never lost. Vietnam, the 2018 champions, defeated Laos 6-0 in the first leg of the group stage on the 21st. Malaysia defeated Myanmar 1-0 on the 21st and Laos 5-0 on the 24th. The 1st place in the Group B is Malaysia with a record of 2 wins and no losses.
Vietnam is estimated to be ahead in terms of objective power. Since Coach Park took the helm in October 2017, Vietnam has grown rapidly and is earning the title of ‘Southeast Asia Powerhouse’. Starting with runners-up in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Championship in 2018, Vietnam reached the semi-finals of the Asian Games, then led Vietnam to top Suzuki Cup (now Mitsubishi Cup) in 10 years that winter . Even after that, he continued to achieve achievements such as reaching the quarterfinals of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and progressing to the Asian final qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Coach Park, whose term ends in January next year, has decided to end his accompaniment with Vietnam, so there is great motivation for Park and Vietnam to greet each other with a smile.
Earlier this year, head coach Kim Pan-gon of the Malaysia national football team took over and is rapidly reorganizing the team. Donga Ilbo DB2018 Mitsubishi Cup runners-up Malaysia is also rapidly forming a structure again following the appointment of coach Kim earlier this year. Before the Mitsubishi Cup, they defeated Cambodia 4-0 on the 9th and Maldives 3-0 on the 14th in two rating matches this month.
With Director Park having emerged as a “national hero” in Vietnam, a craze for Korean leaders has exploded in Southeast Asia. Indonesia is holding hands with Shin Tae-yong, who has been the head coach of the Korea national football team since 2020. Indonesia, who have finished as runners-up six times in this competition, are challenging for their first-ever championship. Indonesia, who won 2-1 in their first match of Group A against Cambodia on the 23rd, will play their second match against Brunei on the 26th at 19:00.
The Mitsubishi Cup, also known as the Southeast Asian World Cup, is the most prestigious tournament in Southeast Asia and is held every two years. It has continued from the first competition in 1996 to the present, the 14th competition. The 2020 tournament, the 13th, was held late last year after being postponed for a year due to the novel coronavirus infection pandemic. It used to be called the Suzuki Cup until the last tournament, but since this year it has been sponsored by the Japanese company Mitsubishi Electric and the name of the tournament has been changed to the Mitsubishi Cup.
The 10 AFF teams are divided into two groups of 5 teams and each team will play a group stage of 8 home and away matches. The 1st and 2nd-placed teams from each pool advance to the semi-finals, and a tournament is held where the 1st-placed team from one pool plays against the 2nd-placed team from another pool to determine the eventual winner. The thirteenth winning team is Thailand. The Mitsubishi Cup, which opened on the 20th, the day after the 2022 Qatar World Cup, will continue until the 16th of next month.
Reporter Kim Bae-joong Wanted@donga.com
