Mr. Le Huy Khoa (wearing glasses) hugged coach Park Hang-seo after the match with Syria ended. Photo:Duc Dong

I have a habit of taking notes, because I understand that they will be valuable diary entries of a journey to prove the potential, determination, and efforts of a nation, not just sports.

As I said on the morning of August 27, the atmosphere in the team was very quiet, the same quiet feeling as when U23 was in China, that feeling gave me a feeling that we would win but it would be very difficult.

We returned to the hotel at around 11:15 pm, the fans were already filling the lobby, sharing the joy with the team. There are no fans anywhere in the world as wonderful as them, wherever the Vietnam team is, they are there, whether near or far, whether it is snowing or scorching hot.

In every match, the most tense moment is when waiting to start the match, everyone is focused, quiet to the point of fear, the atmosphere is the same even in the locker room, everyone is nervous and doesn't dare to say a word.

When we got to the stadium, we saw a large crowd of spectators, especially Vietnamese and Korean spectators who seemed to be sitting together with the slogan written right on the Vietnamese national flag with a yellow star in the middle: Let's walk together and achieve our dreams together.

Fans from both countries cleverly sent out a message and indeed, playing on the same field, both countries achieved their wishes. Today, there were a lot of fans, wearing red uniforms with a yellow star on the front, covering a corner of the stands.

Vietnamese fans cheered enthusiastically for Coach Park and his team throughout yesterday's match. Photo:Duc Dong

About the match, it can be said that the team has never been as exhausted as today, a center back like Duy Manh had cramps all over his body, his body was stiff like a brick, it was heartbreaking to look at, Hau said he couldn't jump anymore, let Xuan Manh play in the middle, Hai had a bloody head, Thanh collapsed on the field right after the match, Huy vomited...

In the locker room, everyone was happy, Van Quyet said honestly: Brother, we are happy, but the happiest thing is to make the fans happy, as long as we make them happy, we have to do anything. Quyet's voice "n" and "l" kept getting mixed up, it was funny to hear. Quyet deserves to be the true leader of our team.

Veteran Anh Duc still regrets: Almost took off his shirt to celebrate. Van Toan said: I was ready, just waiting for that moment to come in. Toan's outside-of-the-foot flick was as skillful as his silver hair.

When we got to the elevator, Lu Dinh Tuan said: Victory has its own formula and its own team. And our lovely neighbor, Coach Duc Canh, will probably go to sleep tonight and say "focus, focus" because he shouted it a thousand times during the match.

Maybe that's right, never lost a goal, won 5 consecutive matches, the record is right here, where else. We brothers from Changzhou, close, understand each other like family, love each other like blood relatives.

Vietnamese players were exhausted but still happy after the match with Syria. Photo:Duc Dong

Here, for the first time, I would like to honestly talk about the working style of the Korean team in our National Team., this is a team that I think is complete, full, responsible and extremely serious. But now we will meet Korea. It is difficult for the Korean team in our team, which side is more important, love or duty. They started talking about the match against Korea and what to do.

The Vietnamese team in the national team has also gathered the best people. The formation of the match against Bahrain, and the whole match today, had a lot of contributions from the Vietnamese assistants. They are also very smart, sharp-eyed, observant and as good as anyone.

Press conference, let me summarize some of Mr. Park's answers: This victory is the effort of the players, I am proud of them because I got to work with them, they are equipped with a very indomitable and resilient Vietnamese spirit. I don't have to convey anything, I just bring what I have accumulated, secrets, and experiences during my time as a coach in Korea to cultivate them.

Korea is my homeland, I love it, but I will do my best to fulfill my responsibilities and duties as a coach of the Vietnam National Team. And I don't want to stop at the quarter-finals like Korea did in 2002. I am happy and excited to work in this country.

Mr. Park and the coaching staff can say that they have prepared very carefully for this match. But in reality, there are still times when we feel stuck because Syria understands us very well. But the good thing about the Vietnamese coaching staff is that they make timely substitutions and change the way they play very quickly. When the number 15 wing is not effective, they switch to a high pass when they see that the opponent's number 2 defender is tired. The order for Anh Duc is to try to stay close to the number 2 position, and the players are asked to pass the ball to Anh Duc to compete for the second ball to finish, which is exactly as predicted.

Quang Hai answered the interview, he calmly said: We still have two more matches ahead, we still have to prepare, focus and control everything even though we are very happy. Hai is always skillful and very exemplary.

Van Toan stood out yesterday not only because of his platinum hair, but also because of his historic goal for Vietnamese football. Photo:Duc Dong

Just out of the dressing room, a reporter from a major newspaper asked me: Brother, what did we just do? Perhaps he and about 20 Vietnamese reporters present and millions, hundreds of millions of football fans were also amazed by what we had just done.

After winning the match, Yongsup (Coach Park's English assistant) cried. Seeing him crying made me feel sorry for him. He cried because he was so emotional.

Thank you Mr. Tuan, Vice President and the Sports Delegation Leaders for always standing by and providing the best support to the whole team. Thank you to the Prime Minister for calling twice to congratulate the whole team. Listening to the Prime Minister's confidences, I felt... he was even more anxious and worried, and had a heart attack than us. Thank you very much to the generous donors for their timely and valuable rewards.

Football proves that: With unity, determination and effort, we Vietnamese can do everything.

Koreans do business successfully in Vietnam, and they have their own secrets, which I have summarized in the book that will be released in 10 days, and the representative person for this example is our hero, Mr. Park.

And the players, they are the real heroes.

I feel sorry for Tuan, the logistics guy who is always busy in the same room, and the medical team of Tuan Giap who have contributed greatly to the recovery of the players' health. They are the ones who wake up the earliest and go to bed the latest. They deserve to be the silent heroes.

I'll go to bed now because it's 1:30am, all the players are sleeping soundly, and I'll only write this because tomorrow we'll have to forget all the fun we just had, have to prepare from scratch, no more personal work... to seriously prepare for the next 2 matches, as Mr. Park instructed.

Because the real joy lies ahead.

Tonight, I probably won't be able to sleep because of happiness. When I close my eyes, the image of the players hugging each other keeps appearing.