Mass celebrations for U23 Vietnam's success. (Photo: VNA) Tokyo (VNA) – The Vietnam national football team’s appearance in the finals of the Asian Football Confederation U23 championship triggered a sense of national camaraderie, according to Nikkei Asian Review.
The Japanese media gave the comment right after the mass celebrations across the country to welcome the excellent home, despite a close defeat on January 27.
The finals were held on a ground covered with snow in China’s Changzhou city. Vietnamese hearts were “broken” in the final minutes of overtime when Uzbekistan scored the game winner from a corner kick. Hundreds of fans watching a huge screen in front of Hanoi Opera House were seen grabbing their head in their hands and letting out painful groans, it wrote.
Although the team lost 2-1 to the central Asian nation, football fans have taken great pride in the young football players.
Vietnamese fans joined in the celebrations coloured in red until 3 a.m.
Winning the runner-up title, Vietnamese football rose to 77th place from 112th in the FIFA rankings, Nikkei noted.
Football is Vietnam’s biggest sport. The response was similarly riotous when the national team won the ASEAN Football Federation’s Suzuki Cup in 2008.
Other prestigious newspaper, press agencies and social network forum in Japan like Mainichi, Yomiuri, Kyodo and Jiji also gave comments on Vietnam’s extraordinary achievements in the tournament.-VNA
VNA
