Hundreds of thousands of fans endured cold weather to greet Vietnam’s U23 squad on January 28 as they returned home after winning a silver medal at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship.

Photo taken by Channel NewsAsia

Fox Sport Asia posted pictures of the U23 football players being welcomed at Noi Bai International Airport with the caption “The heroes are back”. The biggest prize the Vietnamese team has won is the confidence for the other ASEAN football teams.

Meanwhile Fox Sports wrote, “Ultimately, Vietnam winning the trophy would have made a good story great but didn’t matter that much. The main prize had already been won. The legacy of this team will be all the above – the bringing together of a country and all the other benefits – and something else. Vietnam have erased any semblance of the inferiority complex that ASEAN teams have had when taking on so-called bigger and better nations on the pitch.”

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The Nikkei Asian Review reported that the team’s trip to the Asian finals fostered a sense of national camaraderie and that the words of the Vietnamese patriotic song “Vietnam, Uncle Ho Chi Minh” were echoing around Hanoi.

It wrote, “Vietnamese hearts were broken in the final minutes of overtime when Uzbekistan scored the game winner from a corner kick. Yet, many were proud of their young countrymen. People took to the streets to wave the national flag all through the night.”

Photo: Reuters

Reuters said Vietnamese football fans celebrated with national flags in the street, creating an atmosphere as if Vietnam had just won the World Cup. 

Agence France-Presse (AFP) said it was shocked by the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people bursting with national pride as they welcomed their young football players home.

Daily Mail said, “The under-23 team was the first Southeast Asian side to reach the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship, blowing past regional heavyweights like Iraq and Qatar. The normally low-profile event has been followed with the fervour of a World Cup final in the Southeast Asian nation following the meteoric rise of the young squad who have united a country with few tastes of sporting glory on the world stage.

Despite the loss, the huge crowd of fans were bursting with national pride as they streamed home, some still chanting "Vietnam the champion!"

According to ESPN, despite losing after extra time to Uzbekistan in snowy China, Vietnam over-achieved to make the final. The snow-white pitch proved to be a disadvantage for red-clad Vietnam, as it allowed Uzbekistan's players, who wore an all-white strip, to blend into the background.

Meanwhile CTV said Park Hang-seo is now a national hero of Vietnam. The runner-up of this tournament is Vietnam’s best record of all time. It was the first time the Southeast Asian country has won the runners-up in Asia.

Sportalkorea wrote, “Coach Park Hang-seo has inspired the players and made outstanding achievements in the Asian stage.”

From football inspiration to Vietnamese aspiration

The Vietnam U23 football team finished second at the 2018 Asian Football Confederation U23 Championship in China. Their achievement was a milestone in the history of Vietnamese football and inspired Vietnamese national pride and aspiration.

The Vietnam U23 team was the first Southeast Asian team to enter the final of the tournament. Despite a 1-2 defeat to Uzbekistan after extra time, they are the champions in the hearts of Vietnamese people thanks to their excellent performance with a strong, brave spirit. They exhilarated Vietnamese fans by defeating Australia, Syria, and Qatar.

The image of millions of Vietnamese people thronging the streets to cheer the U23 players after each game will live forever in the history of Vietnamese football. Fans are calling them their heroes and the pride of Vietnam. 

At a grand ceremony to congratulate the team at My Dinh National Stadium on January 28, singer My Dung said “The players are champions and heroes in Vietnamese people’s hearts. They were very resilient. I’m proud of them.”

Tran Le Trang, a football fan in Ho Chi Minh City says, “It’s a pity they were not lucky enough in the final game. But they brought victory to Vietnam. Vietnam reached the final. It was a legend, a pleasant dream.”

The Vietnam U23 team was conferred Vietnam’s Labor Order, First Class. Head Coach Park Hang Seo received the Labor Order, Third Class. 

At the ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said, “Vietnam created a legend for Asian football. Your victory today was not a matter of luck but evidence of your endurance throughout the tournament, your confidence, discipline, solidarity and bravery. 

The Fairplay award demonstrates the Vietnamese people’s modesty and friendliness. The U23 squad are champions in the hearts of 90 million Vietnamese people.”

VOV