Vietnam - be it their U23 squad or the national team - have captured the imagination of the Continent with swashbuckling performances that have brought great dividends.

Park - rightly so - has been credited for the great work he has accomplished with the 2018 AFF Cup champions and the Korea Republic native shares his thoughts and vision for Vietnam with the-AFC.com.

The valiant Southeast Asians campaign ended after they lost 1-0 to four-time champions Japan in their quarter-final at the Al Maktoum Stadium.

Vietnam qualified for the knockout stage of UAE 2019 as the fourth best third-placed team but edged Jordan - who had stunned defending champions Australia 1-0 in the group stage - on penalties to make the quarter-finals.

There was not to be further joy as Japan’s Ritsu Doan converted a second half penalty to take the Samurai Blue through in an absorbing encounter.

Vietnam deserved to win but Malaysia gave the second leg of the final their all despite the odds being stacked against them after the first leg ended 2-2 on Tuesday.

Vietnam created problems for Malaysia early on as the visitors were made to chase shadows in the opening minutes and the Golden Dragons were rewarded for their aggression.

Park Hang-seo’s men took advantage of the gaps in the Malaysian defence when Nguyen Quang Hai picked out an unmarked Nguyen Anh Duc in the six-yard box who scrambled the ball home to the delight of the home crowd.

In a match between equals, Uzbekistan opened the scoring in the eighth minute but Nguyen Quang Hai’s 41st minute equaliser pushed the game into extra-time.

Vietnam, however, suffered heartbreak almost at the end as substitute Andrey Sidorov scored the winner for Uzbekistan in the final minute of extra-time to settle the outcome of a match played in wintry conditions.