Park Hang-seo lauded as hero at home, in Vietnam
Vietnam's players celebrate with coach Park Hang-seo after winning the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 championship following the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 final football match between Vietnam and Malaysia at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi on Saturday. AFP-Yonhap
Koreans drawn into Park's football drama
By Kang Aa-young
Park Hang-seo
On Saturday night, South Koreans were drawn into a football game between two Southeast Asian countries ― Vietnam and Malaysia ― both vying to win the 2018 AFC Suzuki Cup.
Park Hang-seo, head coach of the Vietnamese national team, led the team to win the crucial match, leading to national excitement both in Vietnam and his home country, South Korea.
SBS, one of the nation's three major broadcasting companies, cancelled the popular TV series “Fates and Furies” to air the Suzuki Cup final.
The gamble turned out to be a success. The viewership of the football game marked 18.1 percent, almost double that of the drama.
How did the football game, which did not feature South Korea's national team, come to draw so much attention?
Sick and tired of the same old politics and the gloomy economic situation, South Koreans seemed to have found solace in the football “drama” led by the Korean coach.
So Koreans appeared to have extended their nationalistic fervor to the Vietnamese football team due to its coach hailing from Korea.
On the internet, Park has been lauded as a hero who promoted his home country's image overseas by greatly improving the standing of Vietnam's national team.
The article covering Vietnam's win of the Suzuki Cup championship, titled “A hero in Vietnam: Please love my home country South Korea, too,” topped the most-watched online news articles in the nation's largest internet portal Naver.
The article gained over 5,000 likes on the portal site.
Internet user “mwpl***” wrote that he was so proud of Park because he did a wonderful job for the Vietnamese team.
“This is patriotism,” another internet user “Along with Nature” wrote. “I hope he can serve as South Korea's lifetime ambassador to Vietnam.” Internet user “Slugger” said no diplomats have done such a great job as Park did.
After winning the Suzuki Cup title, Park was humble and giving credits to Vietnamese fans for their unwavering support for their national team.
"The players and coaching staff have worked hard for more than two months for this victory," Park said in a post-match interview.
"We received a lot of love from the Vietnamese public. I would like to thank them all for enthusiastically supporting us and it truly is an honor for me to receive that kind of huge support and love." he said.
Park also reminded the Vietnamese public of South Koreans' support for their national team's win in the football cup finals.
"I hope you love my home country South Korea, as much as you showed your support to me," he said.