On the sidelines of Nghe An Newspaper Cup: Used to being barefoot!

Special Caregiver

This title was given by the fans to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hiep My (Do Luong town), who is 85 years old this year, but she is still very agile and clear-minded. This year, her eldest grandson, Nguyen Van Gia Phong, is in the official lineup of the Do Luong Children's Team participating in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup. Phong's parents are busy, so she is responsible for taking care of him during the competition days in Vinh city.

It is known that she has followed her grandson to participate in local amateur tournaments and accompanied him in friendly tournaments in other districts. With her care and encouragement, Gia Phong is very confident in competing and trying to excellently fulfill his role as goalkeeper in the upcoming football matches.

Barefoot is familiar!

The Ky Son Youth Football Team on the first day of gathering in Vinh city all appeared quite bewildered and unfamiliar. Most of the children were going out to the city for the first time, there were Thai and Khmu ethnic children from remote villages, passionate about the round ball, playing with their friends every afternoon.

The balls the children usually play with are withered grapefruits, plastic balls or old, worn-out leather balls that have been patched up. In particular, they often play barefoot. Therefore, going out to the streets, participating in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup this time, wearing studded shoes, playing leather football, and running on artificial turf fields is somewhat "unfamiliar". "I'm used to playing barefoot, wearing shoes feels awkward", shared player Luong Giang Tu in Phieng Pho village, Pha Danh commune (Ky Son).

Luong rice paper suitcase?

Being so engrossed in his new uniform that a player of the Do Luong Children's Team forgot to put on his shoes to take pictures and complete the personnel check. When the team was fully arranged, he realized that he was still wearing his flip-flops. The team's caretaker hurriedly went to the suitcase cart and pulled it into the stadium to get his shoes.

While he was struggling to open the suitcase, the opposing team's players surrounded him and joked, "Is this suitcase full of dried rice cakes (grilled rice cakes)?". In a hurry, his teacher urged him, his teammates urged him, instead of explaining, he opened the zipper and exposed the suitcase as if to prove: It's all personal stuff, the dried rice cakes are still in the countryside, save them to celebrate the day you win the cup!

"If you play well, you stay!"

After completing the personnel check procedure on the morning of June 5, many parents of the two youth and children's football teams of Hoang Mai town reluctantly said goodbye to their children. Some parents lingered, carrying their backpacks on their shoulders and then putting them down, lovingly telling their children all sorts of things. For many children, this was their first time away from home for a long time, and some young players had never left their parents' arms, so they were also in tears.

Although she was busy at home, seeing her son lingering, Nguyen Thi Lien, mother of player Le Quang Khoi, could not bear to leave him behind. She quickly called home, arranged and reorganized her work to stay with her son during the tournament. When everything was done, she returned to make a “deal” with her son: “If you play well, I will stay, otherwise I will go home.”