President of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Khiev Sameth. (Photo: VFF)

Vietnamese football has been developing strongly over recent years, with positive results having been achieved by teams at different levels, especially the men’s national team with the 2018 AFF Cup crown and the U23 team with a runner-up finish at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, President of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Khiev Sameth has said.

The AFF boss made the remark in an interview granted to the media right ahead of the federation’s Fourth Council Meeting for the 2019-2023 session in Hanoi on November 8.

“I am very delighted with the recent success of Vietnamese football. The significant accomplishments of Vietnamese football will be an example for other countries to learn from in football development,” Sameth emphasised.

FIFA Deputy Secretary General Mattias Grafström. (Photo: VFF)

Concerning the nominations for the AFF Awards 2019, the AFF President affirmed: “Whoever wins the awards is not important, because the final winner is Southeast Asian football.”

Sharing the same view, FIFA Deputy Secretary General Mattias Grafström expressed his recognition of the clear progress of Southeast Asian football, especially Vietnamese football. 

“In generally, Vietnamese and Southeast Asian football is developing well. The power of Vietnamese football is getting closer to the world’s teams,” he said.

The FIFA official spoke highly of the VFF’s comprehensive investment, not only in the national teams but also in women’s and youth teams, hailing the achieved success as of being quite well-deserved for Vietnam’s football development efforts. Nhan Dan

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