Vietnam U22 receives good news from FIFA before the final match against Thailand; A golden day for Vietnamese athletics!

Vietnam U22 receives good news from FIFA ahead of the final match against Thailand.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino sent his congratulations to the Vietnam U22 team and Vietnamese football for reaching the final of the 33rd SEA Games.

Vietnamese football is having an impressive performance at the 33rd SEA Games. Three teams – the Vietnamese women's football team, the U22 Vietnamese team, and the Vietnamese women's futsal team – have all reached the finals of the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand. This can be considered an initial success for Vietnamese football.

During the meeting of the functional committees of the World Football Federation (FIFA) taking place in Doha, the President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), Tran Quoc Tuan, met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafsström.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino congratulated Vietnam Football Federation President Tran Quoc Tuan on the Vietnamese national football teams' achievement of reaching the final at the 33rd SEA Games, and wished them continued success. Receiving congratulations from the head of world football is seen as a great source of encouragement for the Vietnamese teams ahead of the SEA Games 33 final.

FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafsström highly appreciated the positive results that Vietnamese football has achieved in recent times, and expressed confidence that with a systematic, professional and sustainable development orientation, Vietnamese football will continue to make new strides in the future.

Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) President Tran Quoc Tuan expressed his sincere gratitude to FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino, and FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafsström for their continued attention, support, and cooperation with member organizations, including Vietnam. VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan emphasized that FIFA's practical support over the past period has significantly contributed to the positive achievements of Vietnamese football, while also gradually improving the quality of facilities, infrastructure, and conditions for national teams.

The meeting further affirmed the effective cooperative relationship between FIFA and the Vietnam Football Federation, aiming towards the common goal of promoting the sustainable development of Vietnamese football, in line with FIFA's global football development strategy.

Coach Kim Sang Sik's unexpected reaction after the SEA Games semi-final match.

Coach Kim Sang Sik boosted the morale of the Vietnam U22 team immediately after their victory over the Philippines, securing their place in the SEA Games 33 final.

Immediately after the Vietnam U22 team defeated the Philippines U22 to secure a place in the SEA Games 33 final, coach Kim Sang Sik held a quick meeting with the entire team in the Rajamangala Stadium locker room. The South Korean coach thanked his players for their fighting spirit, which brought them victory and a ticket to the final match of this year's tournament. Coach Kim hoped that the entire team would continue to maintain focus, determination, and a desire to win in the upcoming final match.

"Don't worry about who our opponent is today. I only care about how we prepare for the match. If we prepare well and show our true potential, I believe we have what it takes to win the championship," coach Kim Sang Sik told his players after their victory against the Philippines.

The South Korean coach also didn't forget to recall the memory of winning the AFF Cup 2024 with the Vietnamese national team right at the Rajamangala Stadium. "Last January 2025, the national team won the Southeast Asian championship here. On December 18th, it will be our turn," Coach Kim urged, a call to action to encourage his players.

A day after the match against the Philippines U22 team, the Vietnam U22 team held a light training session at the RBAC stadium on the afternoon of December 16th. Reportedly, Van Khang and his teammates were in high spirits. Another piece of good news is that the entire team is in good physical condition, with no injuries reported after the match. During this training session, Coach Kim continued to divide the team into two groups. The starting players did light jogging, stretching, and held a debriefing session ahead of the semi-final match. The reserve players trained with a higher intensity alongside the assistant coaches.

Earlier, at the press conference after the semi-final match, when asked whether he wanted to face Thailand or Malaysia in the final, the South Korean coach shared: “In the past, we had a final match against Thailand in January and I am very proud of that. At that time, I told the players: There is no mountain we cannot overcome, let's win together and bring the cup back to Vietnam. This time too, whether it's Thailand or Malaysia, we just need to focus on what we do best, and we can absolutely win the championship.”

Indonesian futsal team causes upset, eliminates Thailand to meet Vietnam again in the final.

Indonesian futsal team caused a shock by eliminating Thailand in the other semi-final match to face the Vietnamese women's futsal team again in the final of the women's futsal event at the 33rd SEA Games.

Thailand is considered the stronger team compared to Indonesia. Besides the home advantage, they are a top Asian team that recently qualified for the 2025 Women's Futsal World Cup. This status gives Thailand confidence before the match begins. However, Indonesia has shown they are not an easy team to beat. The Vietnamese women's futsal team's hard-fought victory against the Indonesian team in the group stage, where they took the lead in the very first minute of the match, is proof of this.

Thailand then demonstrated their class as a top team by equalizing and then taking the lead. However, Indonesia also showed resilience with great fighting spirit and determination, equalizing every time the home team took the lead, ending the two halves with a 4-4 draw. The situation forced the two teams into extra time, but no further goals were scored.

To determine the winner of the final, the two teams had to go to a penalty shootout. Indonesia had better finishing and won 7-6, thus securing their place in the SEA Games 33 final. Therefore, the Vietnamese women's futsal team will face Indonesia in the medal match on December 18th. Meanwhile, host nation Thailand will compete against the Philippines. This marks the first time in the history of women's futsal at the SEA Games that Thailand has failed to win the gold medal.

A golden day for Vietnamese athletics!

On the evening of December 16th, the athletics competition at the 33rd SEA Games entered its final day. In fact, this was also the most intense day of competition for the Vietnamese athletics team as they aimed to achieve their gold medal target.

By the end of the competition day on December 15th, Vietnamese athletics had only won 8 gold medals, 8 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals. Therefore, those involved in Vietnamese athletics are very worried as they need to win 12 gold medals to meet their target. On the final day of competition, Vietnamese athletes must strive their best to achieve that goal, while also avoiding being overtaken by Indonesian athletics, as they also won 8 gold medals like Vietnam.

In the women's 3,000m steeplechase final, Vietnamese athletes Nguyen Thi Oanh and Doan Thu Hang competed. This was Vietnam's highest hope for a gold medal, as Nguyen Thi Oanh had virtually no worthy opponents in this event. In fact, Oanh pulled ahead, leaving her opponent far behind and finishing first with a time of 10'13"74".

In second place was athlete Doan Thu Hang with a time of 10'50"30. Meanwhile, Doan Thu Hang, participating in the 3,000m steeplechase event for the first time, felt very happy, even though she only won the silver medal.

In the women's high jump, Vietnam's Bui Thi Kim Anh started at 1.65m, then easily cleared the bars at 1.70m, 1.75m, and 1.80m, only struggling slightly at 1.83m. At 1.186m, Kim Anh needed two attempts to clear it, then attempted 1.89m but failed. Despite this, her 1.86m clearance secured the gold medal, though it was still far short of the SEA Games record of 1.94m.

Following Kim Anh's success in the high jump, it was Tran Thi Loan's turn to compete in the long jump. With a performance of 6.53m, Loan won a rather fortunate gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation, surprising many. In the same event, Loan's teammate, Ha Thi Thu Hang, won the silver medal with a performance of 6.29m.

The most exciting events of the day were the final two relays, the men's and women's 4x400m, as these were also the two gold medals that Vietnamese athletics currently holds. In the women's 4x400m relay, the Vietnamese athletes faced no worthy opponents. Runners Hoang Thi Minh Hanh, Nguyen Thi Hang, Le Thi Tuyet Mai, and Nguyen Thi Ngoc left their Thai and Philippine competitors far behind to finish first with a time of 3'32"59.

However, the most disappointing event was the men's 4x400m relay. The Vietnamese athletes had a fairly good start with Ta Ngoc Tuong, but then his teammates Tran Nhat Hoang, Vu Ngoc Khanh, and Le Hoang Phuc allowed their Thai opponents to break away and finish first with a time of 3'03"07, while Vietnam finished second with a time of 3'03"85.

At the conclusion of the athletics competition, Vietnam won a total of 12 gold medals, 12 silver medals, and 11 bronze medals, fulfilling its target and ranking second in Southeast Asia.