Keep the flame of U23 Vietnam alive!

U23 Vietnam created a miracle at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship Finals. Photo: Internet

The dream final has ended, U23 Vietnam and coach Park Hang Seo did not have the fairytale ending that millions of Vietnamese fans wished for, but all over the streets from urban to rural areas, red flags were everywhere to celebrate the miracle of becoming the Asian runner-up with boundless pride.

On social networking sites, domestic and foreign media have praised the brave fighting spirit of the U23 Vietnam players in this tournament. They have erased the inferiority complex of Southeast Asian football when facing big teams.

Quang Hai celebrates victory. Photo: Internet

The fighting spirit of the U23 players has inspired everyone, from old to young, across our country, arousing national pride, all with one heart towards the team, with one heart supporting the “golden star warriors”. Wherever they go, whatever they do, whenever they meet, everyone proudly shares stories about the U23 Vietnam.

Nghe An fans poured into the streets to celebrate the victory of U23 Vietnam. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The difficulties that the U23 Vietnam players encountered in this tournament such as: unfair behavior of the referee, disadvantages in body shape, physical strength, weather... but our players all overcame them spectacularly, making the audience at home and abroad go from one surprise to another, making the tournament more dramatic and attractive.

In addition to the runner-up position we achieved, the Organizing Committee also awarded the fair-play award to U23 Vietnam, which is a testament to the beauty of football that U23 Vietnam brought to the continental playground. In addition to the achievements recognized by the Organizing Committee, the greatest achievement that the U23 players brought was the inspiration and pride of the Vietnamese people!

Then, the “fire dragon warriors” will return in joy, welcomed by fans, family and friends and return to compete at the clubs they are playing for. Hopefully, they will pass on the U23 flame to their colleagues, making the Vietnamese football field more and more exciting and attractive to the audience. So that everyone can live in the atmosphere of “eating football, sleeping football” every time the Vietnamese team plays in any tournament, and so that the V.League becomes “the most attractive tournament in Southeast Asia” as it once was.

From the success at the 2018 U23 Asian Cup finals, our young players will confidently step into the big arenas. Photo: Internet

But what we fans most expect is that from now on, the history of Vietnamese football will turn a new page, we have the confidence that every time we "bring the bell to strike foreign lands", we will no longer have an inferiority complex but think about the results of victory at major playgrounds, and no longer be stuck with the target of the SEA Games gold medal or the Southeast Asian "lowland" championship.

To do this, we need more playgrounds such as the Youth - Children's Football Tournament of Nghe An Newspaper Cup, youth training centers such as HAGL, VPF, SLNA, Hanoi... and the football socialization movement is developing more and more deeply, with many Mr. Duc, Mr. Hien, Mr. Thang... having football playgrounds, football clubs in schools, along with systematic and practical football training strategies from VFF.

Let us not "step on the same path" as Greece - the team that wrote a fairy tale with the EURO 2004 championship in the astonishment of the whole world, but then they "rested on their laurels" and gradually declined and were eliminated in the group stage of the tournaments that Greece participated in afterwards.