International media lauds heart and prospects of Vietnam’s U23 squad.
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Following the three-week tournament in Changzhou, China, theVietnamese U23 squad became the first Southeast Asian team to progress to the finals of the continental tournament. “Vietnam may have ultimately lost the finals, but the results in China point to a positive future,” the article said.
AFC also described Vietnam as “penalty kings,” stating: “Vietnam led the way in penalties conceded by giving away three, two of which were converted, in their six games. (…) The Southeast Asians ended up spot-kick kings after emerging victorious from the tournament’s only two penalty shootouts.”
In addition to the praise for the great progress in Vietnamese football, AFC also recognized the success of Southeast Asian football as two out of the eight teams from the region—Vietnam and Malaysia—progressed to the knock-out rounds for the first time.
Besides AFC, global media company Forbes also ran an article on its website, stressing that the Vietnamese football team’s performance at the AFC U23 Championship is clear proof for the success of youth training.
Recalling the team’s path to the finals, the article wrote that Vietnam had defeated regional favourites like Australia and Iraq, and topped “money-soaked squads” from rich countries like Qatar.
In their third consecutive match that went into overtime, the team only lost to Uzbekistan in the last minute of the final match. Though they claimed no champion trophy, “their performance has garnered attention from around the world and shows promise for Vietnam’s football horizon. Vietnam's success proves you don't have to invest huge sums of money, but you do need time,” the article affirmed.
Meanwhile, in an article on Japan’s Nikkei Asian Review, Atsushi Tomiyama wrote, “The U23 team's trip to theAsian finals fosters the sense of national camaraderie.”
The national team's first-ever appearance in the finals of the AFC U23 championship triggered mass celebrations across the country, despite the narrow defeat in Saturday’s finals.
“Soccer is Vietnam's biggest sport. The response was similarly riotous when the national team won the ASEAN Football Federation's Suzuki Cup in 2008,” Atsushi Tomiyama explained.
The enthusiasm is understandable, Atsushi Tomiyama wrote, adding that the momentous soccer games have brought the Vietnamese people closer together.
