The courage and passion of Vietnamese U23 players seemed to melt the snow, OSEN, a news website based in the Republic of Korea commented on the final between Vietnam and Uzbekistan in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship.

Vietnam U23 players’ courage, passion melt snow: OSEN. (Photo: weibo.cn)

Despite the heavy snowfall, Vietnamese players and coach Park Hang-seo did not buckle, OSEN said. “The players threw themselves forward and did their best. Their physical limitations seemed to be overcame by mental strength.”

According to Thailand-based Siam Sports, snow made it difficult for the two teams to control the ball, especially for Vietnam’s team who live in a tropical country.

Though Vietnam’s U23 team did not win the title, they performed a miracle reaching the final and left Vietnam’s mark on the tournament, said the Thai version of Four Four Two.

Vietnam representing Southeast Asia in the final of the AFC U23 Championship in Changzhou, China on January 27 was a major boost the region’s footballing fortunes, stated the Phnom Penh Post from Cambodia.

Singapore-based The Independent ran a headline “Red-hot Vietnam is first in ASEAN to make AFC Under 23 final”, which quoted Qatar’s Brazilian coach Felix Sanchez as saying “Vietnam deserves the final. They have proven that they are a highly capable team. They did their best to win and I send them my congratulations.”

“They truly played with balls of fire. Vietnam went absolutely wild and a little sub-continent of ASEAN celebrated as the red-hot country qualified for the AFC U23 final for the first time,” the newspaper lauded Vietnam’s victory over Qatar in the semi-finals.-VNA