Spring of the Year of the Dragon and hopes for Vietnamese sports to 'transform into a dragon'

Indeed, the goals set for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 2024 U23 Asian Cup, and the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers are being realized step by step through the outstanding achievements of athletes in shooting, badminton, cycling, and weightlifting. These are the ones who won tickets to the Olympics as well as those who accepted to compete for tickets during this Tet Giap Thin.

They are the people who work hard on the training ground, on the field in many other key sports, including men's and women's football, futsal, volleyball, basketball... to strive to reach each finish line in the long journey of striving and dedication of youth, of the Spring full of aspiration to bring glory to the country, to the Fatherland.

Spring is the season of bright flowers, of charming scents, of faith and hope for a successful and developing life. With sports in general and football in particular, youth with great aspirations is the foundation for every solid step, every feasible finish line, every achievement. Of course, experience is a valuable asset, a great accumulated energy, but youth is always the driving force, the necessary springboard in each person, a collective, a community to move forward steadily on long journeys.

This Spring of Giap Thin 2024, the country and homeland continue on the path of comprehensive, effective and highly efficient integration. The Spring of the country is fueled by the development achievements of the Spring of humanity, by many scientific and technological achievements being rapidly applied in life and work; by many young Vietnamese spring buds returning from abroad to serve and contribute to the homeland; by the success of countries in the region and continent, which is always a valuable lesson for Vietnam to learn, find ways to overcome and win.

This Spring of Giap Thin 2024, famous people born in the year of the Dragon in the country and around the world, in sports in general and football in particular, are examples for many people to learn and strive for. Their successful or unsuccessful lessons are calling us ahead, giving us strength for all our efforts, every step, every way to go towards the Spring of success, of hope bearing fruit.

This Spring of the Year of the Dragon, I wish the Vietnamese coaches and athletes luck and strive to achieve the best results in the Olympic “gold hunting campaign” that shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh once won. Great trust and hope are placed on the shoulders of Trinh Thu Vinh and Pham Quang Huy in shooting, Nguyen Thi That in cycling, Nguyen Huy Hoang in swimming… and expectations are directed towards Thuy Linh in badminton, and the weightlifters…

Olympic football is a difficult goal, but we still hope for the youth of the U23 Vietnam team with key players who have been trained for a long time in the Vietnam National Team. And of course, the youth from these players will contribute to the 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds of the World Cup, one of the main goals in the current process of Vietnamese football's rise.

This Spring, we hope that young football players from all over the world, including those who are being carefully nurtured at Song Lam Nghe An, Hanoi FC, Viettel, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, PVF... will increasingly grow stronger in terms of physique, physical strength, professional ability, and international competitiveness to meet the increasingly high demands of development.

Hopefully, these are generations of athletes who will overcome difficulties and challenges to "turn into dragons" as expected, following in the footsteps of previous generations, creating a spring full of colors and floral fragrance for the country and Vietnamese sports in the period of integration and development./.