Vietnam: A Historic Victory

Vietnam win their first points in their qualifying group over match-favorites China.

Before this qualifying campaign, Vietnam have had a special record that they’ve held dear to them. That record being that they had never gotten to the final round of the Asian World Cup Qualifiers, nevertheless gotten a win. Constant failure seemed to be the only thing that the Vietnamese Men’s National Team was good at. However, they’ve recently come upon a golden generation, with incredible talents like Do Hung Dung and Phan Van Duc.

Although Vietnam did reach this final round of qualifying, they did not have much success throughout. They lost their first match to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, and then lost to Australia in Hanoi. This started a losing streak, reaching its peak when they lost 4-0 to Australia on Thursday, bringing the total to 7 games lost in a row.

Going into this match against China, fans weren’t too hopeful of a result. Although China had been struggling for form as of late, they usually regain that form whenever they play against Vietnam, having won all of their previous appearances. However, all of this negativity didn’t seem to affect the Vietnamese players, because they came out of the gate full speed ahead.

It’s well known that Gutenberg’s printing press had its origins in China, but Vietnam’s press of the Chinese team was beyond anything they’d seen in their history. Their direct passing play was spectacular on the day, not seeming to get anything wrong. It worked well in the 9th minute, when Do Hung Dung floated a majestic cross into the Chinese box, with Ho Tan Tai elegantly nodding the ball into the top-right corner in a Berbatov-like manner. He flew like a butterfly and stung like a bullet ant.

Only seven minutes later, Vietnam would see another goal. A one-two between Do Hung Dung and Pham Tuan Hai saw the ball zip across the box to Nguyen Tien Linh, who calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net. Later on in the second half of the match, Phan Van Duc smashed in a stunner from around 35 yards out, leaving China done and dusted. Despite a sour last-minute consolation goal from China’s Xu Xin, the Vietnamese team left My Dinh National Stadium with incredible smiles on their faces, especially the manager, Hang-Seo Park, who’d been under harsh criticism ever since the beginning of the campaign.

All that’s left in the campaign are a match against both Oman and Japan. Despite being eliminated from qualification already, getting morale high before going again soon will be essential for the success of the Vietnamese national team. This true underdog story leads me to support them in all of their future endeavors, and they’ve left a positive mark on all of our hearts. Best of luck Vietnam, we’re rooting for you!