TThe two largest cities in Vietnam are very different. In the north, Hanoi sometimes resembles a Chinese city more than Ho Chi Minh City, 1,000 kilometers to the south of the long, thin nation. In Saigon, formerly named with its tropical Southeast Asian air, residents shake their heads as they perceive the capital's winter and the coolness of the people. However they share a few things: mental congestion, their insistence on the best Vietnamese food and a love for football. Anyone who has witnessed impromptu street parties in any city that has celebrated a national team's success on the international stage over the past few years would agree.
And they share their dismay at the growing realization that such parties seem a thing of the past. The national team, long ago, was the best in Southeast Asia – a football hotbed home to 650 million people – but with Asia's eight automatic allocations, it is highly unlikely that it will be close to the first World Cup in 2026. . Instead, a fall at the first hurdle is imminent. This should not be the case when Philippe Troussier takes office in February 2023. The French were to oversee the next phase of the country's football evolution from a regional power to a stable continental power. Instead, they got their marching orders in March after losing 10 of their last 11 games.
Vietnam flourished under his predecessor, Park Hang-seo. The South Korean coach arrived in the country to little fanfare in 2017 to take over a team that was full of technical talent but underachieving. With hard work, teamwork, more work and then running, Park's under-23 side soon reached their first Asian tournament final. Fans took to the streets again in December 2018 when they delivered the hard-fought Regional Championship Southeast Asian title. Weeks later in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup and a 1–0 loss to Japan. Then made his first appearance in the final round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. “Uncle Park” became a hero in this football-crazy country and became the face of all kinds of Korean products and companies.
Experimental Park stepped down in early 2023 amid a feeling that he had taken the team as far as he could. The next step is to build on this foundation and add a more expansive, proactive and progressive element. Enter the trousseur, cultured, urbane and worldly-wise, having spent years in the country working with youth academies and then Vietnam's under-19 team. The Asian Cup in January was a disaster, however Three defeats in three group games. That put them under serious pressure and back-to-back defeats to regional rivals Indonesia in World Cup qualifying meant that making it to the last 18 was now highly unlikely. Park got them into the last 12 on the road to Qatar.
Vietnam's transformation from a counter-attacking power to a possession-oriented side has never been easier or quicker. During this transition period, more time is spent with the ball but the team is more vulnerable without converting possession into clear opportunities at the other end. The selection was also questioned with one-time golden boy Nguyen Quang Hai left on the sidelines. Despite high expectations from the park, losing all but one of the last 11 matches almost always leads to relegation.
It has been suggested that Vietnamese players are not ready for such methods, and while that is debatable, the lack of progress the domestic V-League has made in recent years is a real frustration. A lack of resources and capacity at club and federation level has seen them fall behind elsewhere in the region, never mind the rest of the continent. The local game does not provide the kind of preparation a national team needs to compete internationally so it is not surprising that questions are still being asked as to whether it is better to look abroad.
Especially Indonesia, Asia's biggest underachiever and its true sleeping giant, has done this. The laughing stock of Southeast Asia, they have now beaten Vietnam three times in 2024 and are on course for the final round of World Cup qualification. The country has looked to Europe to naturalize players of Indonesian heritage and called up 10 for the recent qualifiers. The Netherlands, the former colonizer of the archipelago, proved to be a particularly rich resource. The Garuda team is increasingly international but they are the youngest national team in Asia, with an average age of 21.5 at last month's first qualifier. After years of negativity and scandal, things are looking positive.
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Vietnam has yet to explore whether it can use its own migrants in Europe and North America, and that is a change that will have to come from the top in Hanoi. That means, for now, fans will have to make jibes about the make-up of Indonesia's team on social media while trying to deal with the realization that the regional scene is changing.
It hasn't gone unnoticed in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City that Indonesia still have their own South Korean coach in Shin Tae-yang and he is taking them to the next level. “Vietnam's golden generation is coming to an end,” Shin, as straight as Park, said after the Golden Stars secured their third win in as many weeks. “On the other hand, Indonesia is building a golden generation and moving forward.”