By Schoni Song
Remember the Republic of Korea’s stunning run at the 2002 FIFA World Cup? Vietnam accomplished something similar at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship this Saturday night. Only this time, it was more than just a cause for national celebration.
On the balance of play, Uzbekistan deserved to win the trophy at the Championship as they defeated the runner-up Vietnam in a 2-1 win at the Olympic Sports Centre in Changzhou, China.
Despite their close defeat in the final, however, there was a lot of excitement rising in the Southeast Asian nation, which has been on the brink of World Cup qualification for the last many years.
The Vietnamese team at the U23 Asian Cup at the Olympic Sports Centre in Changzhou, China (Photo: AFC U23 Championship)
After almost two hours of tense and tight competition, the major cities in Vietnam went wild Saturday evening with tens of thousands of fans pouring into the streets in celebration of their team’s historic second place achievement under the leadership of Korean manager Park Hang-seo.
It was clearly reminiscent of Seoul back in 2002 when Korea reached the semi-final of the World Cup to send a nation completely red. Mr Park, who is now at the center stage of this football craze in Vietnam, must remember it well.
Now almost 16 years later, Vietnam has created a magic of its own. Countless Vietnamese people who had never had any interest in the game are talking about the wonders of this sport and their historic achievement everywhere they go.
Thousands of football fans cheering for the Golden Stars at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Photo: Twitter)
Bad politics can stand in the way of sports. But, conversely, good sports can help foster peace and unity in the realm of politics. Mr Park and his team’s success story at the U-23 Asian Cup was a testament to just that. As the Vietnamese people cheered for his dedication to the team, the football tournament overall had the surprising effect of bringing Vietnam and Korea closer together.
“I mean, this soccer game definitely brought us together,” said Lan Phuong Nguyen, 20, a Vietnamese undergraduate student at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. She added, “I spent a lot of time on the road in Hanoi these few days and saw a lot of people tying the Vietnamese and Korean flags together onto their motorcycles.”
It was clear that the Vietnamese people now looked at Park and his family as indispensable part of the team, thereby strengthening the relations between the two Asian countries with deeper levels of trust and family-like bond.
Park Hang-seo, South Korean football manager and head coach of Vietnam national team (Photo: Facebook)
It may not have been the fairy-tale ending that the Vietnamese people were dreaming of, but many believe that Park played a central role in elevating Vietnamese football to new heights. After all, the men in red gave everything they had, and though they could not take the trophy home there is nothing wrong with that.
Instead, there were countless Vietnamese people placing photos of Park right underneath that of Ho Chi Minh’s. “That’s one of the best treatments that you can ever receive from the Vietnamese people,” said Phuong.
She also mentioned that the Vietnamese believe strongly that this achievement was attributable to Mr Park’s effort and his leadership — and that the Vietnamese people have come to naturally associate him with Korea. “More than just cooperation in sport, I think many see the football game as a symbol of international support,” she said.
The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (Photo: Facebook)
Where there is sports, there is drama. And we have the opportunity to realize a whole lot of drama through sports with the Winter Olympics scheduled to take place from 9 to 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang, Korea.
Athletes will sweat and compete with all they have in order to win their medals, and meanwhile, 26 heads of state from 21 countries including South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier among others are expected to engage in summit diplomacy during the Winter Games.
It is also expected that the Pyeongchang Olympics will inspire the same spirit of peace and international camaraderie as did the U-23 Asian Cup. After all, that is the real trophy to take home from competitive international sports. It is one that sparkles with courage and hope — something that all of Eurasia, if not the world, can share.
The writer is a program officer in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. He can be reached at schoni0124@naver.com or mseap@assembly.go.kr. |
