Will Vietnamese football achieve a breakthrough in 2023?

And if there are any, they are grassroots tournaments at the village, commune, or neighborhood level, where local children who work or live far away return home to meet up for a friendly football match or a small tournament played during the Tet holiday, attracting people to meet, exchange New Year greetings, and cheer on their home team. It's noteworthy that even professional football stars, during the Tet holiday, also put on their boots to play football with the village lads.

There was once a story about Van Quyen returning to his hometown of Hung Tien, Hung Nguyen district, to play football during Tet (Lunar New Year). People from the entire village, commune, and even more than half the district came to watch, creating a scene as lively and exciting as a professional match at Vinh Stadium. Many young men from the village who played amateur football had the opportunity to "face off" against their idol, Van Quyen. They played exceptionally well, receiving applause and encouragement, along with words like "the village boys play like professionals," "they're almost as good as professionals," which further fueled their enthusiasm and made them look forward to Tet so they could return to their village to showcase their talents…

Vietnamese football will have a busy year, especially with the Vietnamese women's national team participating in the 2023 World Cup. Source: vietnamnet.vn

Of course, Lunar New Year is a matter specific to East Asian countries like Vietnam, China, and South Korea, not FIFA, so there are still issues.Vietnam national teamThe match was scheduled for the first day of the Lunar New Year in 2022, as many people know and remember. This was when Coach Park Hang-seo and his team were in the midst of their third round of World Cup qualifiers and had to face their neighbor China on the very first day of the new year.

Now, talking about this match is talking about pride not only for Vietnamese football but also for Southeast Asian football. Previously, Thailand had reached the third round of World Cup qualifiers twice but only managed three draws. Meanwhile, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Vietnamese national team brilliantly defeated China with a resounding 3-1 victory, the first and only win for the region in the most recent round, securing their World Cup qualification. It was a resounding victory, a lucky omen at the beginning of the year, not just for one person or one team, but for an entire nation and region.

The Vietnamese national team also participates in many major tournaments. Source: vietnamnet.vn

And Vietnamese football cannot forget the time when the Vietnamese women's national team competed in the 2022 Asian Cup Finals in India, during the Lunar New Year season and while the Covid-19 pandemic was still raging. That was when the entire team celebrated Tet away from home, still enjoying traditional green sticky rice cakes and the support of relevant authorities in a foreign land. Overcoming the tremendous difficulties caused by the pandemic, Coach Mai Duc Chung and his team successfully completed their mission for the first time in two matches against Thailand (2-0 on the second day of Tet) and Taiwan (2-1 on the sixth day of the Year of the Tiger) to secure a ticket to the 2023 World Cup, while the Thai women's team, despite having qualified twice before, had to "look up" to the success of the Vietnamese and Philippine women's teams.

Therefore, when we talk about football and Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year), we are immediately talking about the story of overcoming difficulties and the success of both the Vietnamese men's and women's national teams on the continental and world stages. This represents a remarkable leap forward for a football system with a deep and broad foundation, stemming from village and town football, and from the football matches during Tet as mentioned at the beginning of the article. Based on this foundation, young football talents have been trained and nurtured to gradually become professionals, ready to reach the international stage.

Every Lunar New Year, as spring arrives, is a time for reunion and returning to one's roots, providing renewed energy for stronger and more sustainable progress for each individual, family, clan, village, neighborhood, and even the entire province and country. Vietnamese football, born and raised in this environment, is increasingly empowered by learning from and drawing on experiences from all over the world, leading to many resounding victories, such as the match on the first day of the Year of the Tiger, and the achievement of the Vietnamese women's national team qualifying for the World Cup in early 2022.

The beginning of heaven and earth, of all things, is spring. Vietnamese football, starting from each spring, will also sprout new shoots and green buds, leading to golden seasons and sweet fruits, gradually repaying the efforts of previous generations and the countless fans near and far.