"Getting compensation" from Mr. Park and the players

As an eastern province of China, Jiangsu is known as a province with great commercial potential. The 2018 AFC U23 Championship finals took place in four cities: Kunshan, Changshu, Changzhou and Jiangyin, all in Jiangsu Province, China. Vietnam played the first two group stage matches in Kunshan. The next two matches, including the final group stage match against Syria and the quarter-final match against Iraq, will be played in Changshu.

The audience was excited.

According to AFC, the quarter-final match between Vietnam and Iraq attracted the most spectators among the eight teams. Nearly 1,000 fans from both Vietnam and Iraq came to the stadium to cheer for the two teams, one and a half times more than the match between Korea and Malaysia, and three times more than the first two quarter-final matches between Japan and Uzbekistan and Qatar and Palestine. The semi-final match of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship between Vietnam and Qatar will take place at 3:00 p.m. Hanoi time on January 23, at Changzhou Stadium, China.

Coach Felix Sanchez said that U23 Vietnam is the "killer of big teams". Photo: Internet

It is expected that about 1,200 Vietnamese fans will be present in Changzhou to cheer for Mr. Park and his students. Before flying from Da Nang to Jiangsu to cheer for the team, Mr. Nguyen Nguyen, a fan from Nghe An, said: "Usually, we arrange to sell goods for Tet a month ago, now that U23 Vietnam is playing, I will make another trip, if we can't sell everything, we will wait until after Tet."

It is known that the Vietnamese community here has made appointments and arranged work to stand side by side with Cong Phuong and the team.

Even the AFC acknowledged that after the early elimination of U23 China, it was the Vietnamese fans who made the 2018 AFC U23 Championship Finals more exciting. The stands were red with flags and cheers to motivate the players on the field.

Collective "offside"

There were about 10 Vietnamese reporters present at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship Finals in China since mid-January. Fearing that Vietnam U23 would be eliminated early in the group stage, not many newspapers sent reporters to cover the news, and the haunting memory of the 29th SEA Games still lingers.

Our team's group stage schedule is from January 11 to 17, 2018, so most people only budget for food and accommodation for about 10 days, and most of the flights back to Vietnam are booked on January 18, 2018. No one can forget this tournament 2 years ago, U23 Vietnam lost all 3 matches and left right after the group stage.

Being in Group D with U23 Korea, U23 Australia, U23 Syria, all of whom are at a higher level than U23 Vietnam, no one dared to think that we would make it past the group stage, let alone into the semi-finals. Being used to failure, the reporters themselves were somewhat self-conscious, and together they chose the most feasible option.

Cong Phuong is still the most mentioned name in Qatar's defense. Photo: Internet

The resounding victory over Iraq turned everything upside down, the reporters ran out of money and had to rebook their flights, completely "offside".

In the joy of victory, reporters called the newsroom in Vietnam to “pump” more money into their accounts, while others borrowed money from everywhere. Some newspapers quickly booked air tickets for reporters from Vietnam to fly over, adding to the force that had been with them since the beginning of the tournament.

Unusual joy

Up to now, U23 Vietnam is the only sports team to receive two letters of praise and encouragement from the Prime Minister in a tournament. Playing against Qatar during working hours, there will certainly still be millions of fans cheering for the U23 Vietnam team. The squad that coach Felix Sanchez brought to this tournament is considered the core of the Qatar team preparing for the 2022 World Cup held at home.

Facing Qatar is a difficult match but not impossible to overcome. Many Vietnamese fans are ready to put everything aside to support the team. Everyone wants to “take revenge” on Mr. Park and the players, keep it up!