What does the world press write about the U23 team and Vietnamese fans?
(Baonghean.vn) - International media admires U23 Vietnam and admires the millions of fans who have supported the team.
1.Korean Newspaper: U23 Vietnam is the real champion
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Chosun newspaper publishes images of Vietnamese football's passion and love for coach Park Hang Seo |
Inter Football commented: "U23 Vietnam achieved great success in this tournament. Fans have new hopes. Although losing to U23 Uzbekistan, U23 Vietnam are the real champions."
"Vietnamese people have a magical memory like Korea in 2002," wrote Hankooki newspaper.
"The Vietnamese players showed a completely different side than expected, both in terms of technique and physical strength. It was not a failure. U23 Vietnam showed remarkable progress and played tireless football."
2.Fox Sports: "Vietnam erases the pessimism of Southeast Asian football"
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Fox Sports Praises Vietnam's Earthquakes |
Defeat in the final may not be the dream ending for the Vietnamese. But in the article titled "Forget the defeat, Vietnam's biggest prize is to erase the pessimism of Southeast Asian football", journalist Duerden believes that coach Park Hang-seo and his team have received the real reward of the tournament.
3. Thai newspaper: "Admiration, jealousy and U23 Vietnam, don't leave us"
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The achievements of U23 Vietnam are very admirable. |
In a commentary on the morning of January 28, Thai newspaper Thai Rath praised U23 Vietnam, and also admitted to being jealous of what the boys in red shirts had done.
The author of the article began: "I sat and watched the entire match, not missing a single minute. I watched U23 Vietnam fight U23 Uzbekistan, on a field that was nothing but snow and snow....
Last Saturday (January 27), Vietnam became the first ASEAN country, and it should be noted that it was the first, to have a football team enter the final of the Asian Cup. Spectacular!...U23 Vietnam and Vietnamese football are shining examples for the entire ASEAN region."
4.Chinese newspaper: "Vietnam is a candidate for the World Cup"
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Vietnam can aim for the 2022 World Cup. |
Reaching the final of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship in China, Vietnam is making the host country wary in the near future.
With the title: "The golden generation of Vietnamese football is ready to aim for a ticket to the World Cup", the Chinese newspaperSina Sportspredicting Vietnam's rapid rise in continental football in the near future.
The end of the article reads: "...Now Vietnam is no longer a weak team in Southeast Asia, often having to face the "dwarfs" of the continent. Instead, they can start competing with strong teams in Asia, to get a place in the World Cup."
5.Uzbekistan Newspaper: We won the Cup but U23 Vietnam is the real winner
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We won the Cup but U23 Vietnam was the real winner. |
Immediately after the final match of the U23 Asian Championship between Vietnam and Uzbekistan, UZDaily published a short article commenting on the match. The Uzbekistan newspaper used many positive words to talk about the Vietnamese players during the 120 minutes of intense competition at Changzhou Stadium.
UZDaily wrote: “Uzbekistan’s victory adds another title to the AFC U-16 championship it won in 2012. It also brings the curtain down on Vietnam’s memorable journey, which will surely live on in the memories of the Southeast Asian nation’s supporters.”
6. Japanese Newspaper: Historic football journey brings Vietnamese people closer together
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The bus carrying the Vietnam U23 team paraded through streets filled with red flags with yellow stars on January 28. |
Nikkei Asian Review journalist commented that the historic journey of the football team at the U23 Asia has brought the Vietnamese people closer together.
The Vietnamese national team's first appearance in the final of the AFC U23 Championship has sparked a wave of celebration across the country, despite Vietnam's loss to Uzbekistan in the final match on January 27.Nikkei Asian Reviewreport...
The enthusiasm is understandable. But what is special is that the journey to the final of the U23 team has promoted a sense of national unity. "The football matches have brought Vietnamese people closer together," the newspaper wrote.
7.French news agency says U23 Vietnam is welcomed like "rock stars"
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A sea of fans holding Vietnamese flags follow a double-decker bus carrying the U23 team on a parade through the streets of Hanoi on January 28. Photo: AFP. |
AFP described thousands of fans lining the streets of Hanoi to welcome the U23 football team home despite their defeat in the final match.
The Vietnamese team was considered the "underdog" when entering the 2018 AFC U23 Championship held in China, but fought strongly and became one of the two strongest teams in the tournament.AFPThe article opens with the title "Young Vietnamese football players welcomed like rock stars".
Despite losing 1-2 to Uzbekistan in the final, U23 Vietnam was still welcomed by thousands of fans at home.
8.Daily Mail – UK's No. 1 newspaper: U23 Vietnam is the champion with the "real prize" at AFC
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U23 Vietnam is called 'national hero' by London football news site |
On the evening of January 27 (Vietnam time), the leading British newspaper - Daily Mail published an article with the title: "Uzbekistan crushed Vietnam's dream of winning the championship in the final match of the U23 Asian Cup. Millions of Vietnamese fans wearing red ended the hopes of a mythical story after Uzbekistan won the final match of the U23 Asian Cup.
This event created a passionate atmosphere no less than a World Cup final, when the Vietnam U23 team shone on the world sports stage. Vietnam U23 is the first team in Southeast Asia to reach the Asian final after blowing away heavyweight candidates for the championship such as Iraq and Qatar."U23 Vietnam failed but made the whole of Asia "look back at itself"
9.European newspapers report on the historic welcoming ceremony of the U23 team in Vietnam
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"It may not be a perfect ending to the fairy tale that Vietnam wrote at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, but Vietnam has a real trophy that brings confidence to the whole of Southeast Asia," that's what Fox Sports Asia described about U23 Vietnam. |
The Mail Online published an article citing AFP reporting on the event welcoming the Vietnamese U23 football team back from the 2018 AFC U23 Championship held in China. According to the British newspaper, tens of thousands of fans lined up on both sides of the road from the airport to the city center with national flags to wait for their football stars.
For Vietnamese fans, although they could not win the championship in this tournament, their U23 Vietnam team is still the champion. Accordingly, despite the cold weather and light rain, fans still stood waiting for the convoy carrying the U23 Vietnam team to pass by, cheering and waving, creating a rare event in the past decades.
The distance from Noi Bai airport to the center of Hanoi normally takes only 40 minutes, but the bus carrying the players and coaching staff of U23 Vietnam took 5 hours.The newspaper's reporter also interviewed a fan and posted the following message: "I want my children to learn the brave and wonderful spirit of these young players."
10. Many other newspapers in the world praise U23 Vietnam
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Previously, a series of Southeast Asian newspapers such as Siam Sports of Thailand, Bolo of Indonesia, Phnom Penh Post of Cambodia... or Asian newspapers and news agencies such as Kaixian of China, Gulf Times - Gulf Times, Yonhap News of Korea or FOX Sports, Goal all had articles about the miracle that U23 Vietnam achieved at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship.
Marca – a famous sports newspaper in Spain also wrote an article about coach Park Hang-seo and his team, saying that this is an unprecedented miracle in the history of Vietnamese football.