But Park put aside the disappointment of the heartbreaking loss to provide a positive outlook for the country on the international stage.

“I’ve only been in Vietnam four months and I still don’t know enough about Vietnam’s football culture,” said the 59-year-old. “I have to study and learn and try to know more. 

“But all of my players did their best and throughout this tournament they proved that they have great ability. Maybe in the future Vietnamese football will have more success at Asian level.”

Park is no stranger to success, having worked as an assistant under Guus Hiddink when the Dutchman led Korea Republic to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in 2002. But he denied finished Vietnam’s runners-up finish – the country’s best-ever performance in an AFC tournament – should be seen as a triumph.

“When Korea had some success in 2002, it was a long time ago, 16 years ago, and at that time I was just a coach working with Hiddink and I helped him,” he said. “I was happy to do that. 

“But I’m the head coach now and I don’t feel successful today because no coach can lose a game and say that he has been a success.

“We lost the game today but our players have proven they are a united team. Today we had to play in the snow, and it snowed so much. Our players had never played in this situation before, but they tried to do their best and I want to say thank you to them.

Park was particularly appreciative of the support shown to his team by the Vietnamese fans, several thousand of whom turned up to back the team in Changzhou while many thousands more watched the team’s performance on giant screens across the country.

“Our players have done their best and in this tournament. It was very competitive,” he said. “We have been able to make the fans happy before but we haven’t been able to do that today. 

“I want to say sorry for this to the Vietnamese people, but the players tried their best. They felt the love of the Vietnamese people throughout this tournament.” (The-afc.com)