Have you ever loved someone so intensely that you want to name a street after them?
If there’s one thing that can make Vietnamese people lose their mind, it’s football. The love for the unofficial national sport has spawned many a shenanigan, ranging from completely ridiculous, like hijacking a hearse to đi bão, to surprisingly wholesome, such as this football-themed wedding album.
For residents in a small pocket of District 9, their 15 minutes of fame came last Thursday after their quaint hẻm was “renamed” Park Hang-seo Street. A photo of the legit-looking street sign made the rounds on Facebook the same evening, garnering more than 1,000 likes and dozens of shares. Locals living in hẻm 70 of 109 Street in Phuoc Long B Ward of the district confirmed that the image was taken in their neighborhood, reports Tuoi Tre.
Vietnam is still reeling from the win against UAE in a recent World Cup qualifying match, so a level of hero-worship directed at the team’s South Korean head coach, Park Hang-seo, is to be expected. It’s unclear who the lovestruck fans behind the bold move were, but if you’re thinking of making a trek there, you’re out of luck.
On November 22, a ward official told Tuoi Tre that he had ordered the removal of the illegal street sign as soon as he learned of its existence. He added that the action was illegal because the location does not qualify for a street sign and the sign does not meet standards.
According to Zing, Vietnam’s law on naming streets and public amenities stipulates that alleys — including hẻm, ngõ and ngách — are not allowed to have names, just numerical titles based on the first house of the street where the alley starts. Still, in many new urban areas where roads might remain unnamed for a long time, it’s common for residents to come up with informal monikers for their neighborhood streets.
Coach Park was officially hired to lead Vietnam’s national and U-23 football teams in October 2017. Since then, under his tutelage, both teams have attained numerous milestones and achievements and are widely recognized as the best cohort of Vietnamese footballers in the last decade.
[Top photos via 24h and Bao Giao Thong]
