Vietnamese fans flock to Indonesia to cheer on the team

Early morning of August 29, Noi Bai airport (Hanoi) was filled with fans wearing bright shirts, red flags with yellow stars, carrying banners, trumpets and drums to check in for their flight to Jakarta (Indonesia). Many people cheered and shouted "Vietnam wins", "Vietnam is the champion" causing a commotion at the airport.

Today, Vietnam Airlines added 5 flights, instead of 4 as planned, specifically adding 2 flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Jakarta, 2 flights from Hanoi to Jakarta and 1 flight from Da Nang to Jakarta, bringing the total number of flights per day to 6, with more than 1,000 seats.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuan (Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi) did not hesitate to leave home at 3am to go to the airport. He went alone on a tour of a travel company.Claiming to be a loyal fan of Vietnamese football, two days before the team won the quarter-finals, he decided to leave "in a flash", quickly found a tour and transferred money to the organizer.

"When going to the stadium, hearing the cheers and having a panoramic view of the field will give you a different feeling of excitement than watching TV at home, and more importantly, it will help to encourage the young players to compete more enthusiastically," said Mr. Tuan..

Going alone, Mr. Tuan said he would join a group of many other people, all of whom would consider each other friends because they shared the same goal of cheering for the national team.

Mr. Nguyen The Quynh (Ha Dong District, Hanoi) also went to Indonesia with a group of 7 friends today. On the evening of August 27, when Vietnam won against Syria, he and his friends went to Hoan Kiem Lake to celebrate, then discussed going to Indonesia to cheer for the home team in the semi-final match.

Mr. Quynh registered the tour for the whole group and prepared shirts, banners, and flags. "We are very excited to prepare for today's trip. If there are more Vietnamese fans in the stands, more flag colors, it will motivate the players to play better. I believe we will win the next match," Mr. Quynh said.

Quynh's group hopes to interact with the team and "take pictures with the players".

Having just returned from Indonesia after the quarter-final match, Huy Cuong (District 5, Ho Chi Minh City) is preparing to leave for the semi-final match. Due to the charter flight, after the match with Syria on August 27, he had to return to Vietnam the next morning, work for a day, then prepare to go to Tan Son Nhat airport to continue to Indonesia.

Mr. Cuong shared that traveling a lot felt tiring, but the whole group "felt very happy because the Vietnamese team was on the winning track." He commented:The organization of the 2018 Asian Games was quite good, with many volunteers supporting fans from different countries. The fans' cars were even escorted by police to avoid congestion.

Also returning to Indonesia for the second time in the past 3 days, Vice President of the Fan ClubVietnam Tran Song Hai said that it is expected that there will be about 2,500 - 3,000 fans cheering for the Vietnamese players in the semi-final match against Korea today. The match against Syria had about 1,300 fans coming to the stadium to support the home team, after the match many people stayed to cheer again in the quarter-finals.

Mr. Hai said that not only domestic fans but also fans from neighboring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines will come to Indonesia to cheer for the team "because no one wants to miss the match with Korea".

Previously on the evening of August 27, the Vietnamese Olympic team defeated the Syrian Olympic team and entered the Asian Games semi-finals for the first time. At 4 p.m. today, the team will compete with the Korean Olympic team..