U-19 Vietnam win helps regain confidence from fans

Vietnamese players raised the pic of the deceased general Vo Nguyen Giap while celebrating their 5-1 victory over Australia

The team won all nine points after beating Taiwan 6-1, Hong Kong 5-1, and Australia 5-1 and was awarded the only ticket from group F to play the 2014 Asian U-20 Football Championship. They will be one of 16 teams vying for four spots to play the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand in 2015.

The U-19 players, who have been training at the Hoang Anh Gia Lai – Arsenal JMG football academy for seven years, renewed local fans’ support, which had been waning after Vietnam’s failures at the Sea Games and AFF Cup as well as disagreements between football officials.

The team has also become a magnet for the media as almost 20 sports journalists of Vietnam accompanied them to Kuala Lumpur to report on their matches. This surprised organizing officials of the Asian Football Confederation.

The players displayed impressive sportsmanship when none of the players were warned or booked with cards in the last three games in Kuala Lumpur. Vietnam was the only team that hadn’t been booked in group F.

Midfielder Cong Phuong truly rose to stardom in the last three games when he scored seven goals and made several assists.

U19 Vietnam’s French coach Graechen Guillaume said after the match, “It’s unbelievable. Australia is considered the stronger team.”

He added that the 5-1 win over Australia has proved the effectiveness of their intensive training over the last seven years at the academy in Gia Lai Province.

“It was speed that helped Vietnam win the match. The Vietnamese players were twice as fast as the Aussies. My players played one touch very fast which stunned the big Australians,” said coach Guillaume.

Australian coach Paul Okon said that he respected the U-19 players of Vietnam for their cleverness and skill.

“We tried our best to prevent them from scoring, but it was impossible,” coach Okon admitted.