Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Le Quy Quynh, the embassy’s staff and representatives of the Vietnamese community on December 7 greeted Vietnam’s national football team at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Le Quy Quynh (front, fourth, right) welcomes coach Park Hang-seo (front, fifth, right) and other members of Vietnam's national football team at Kuala Lumpur International Airport

The Vietnamese team came to play in the final first leg against the host Malaysia in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2018.

Congratulating efforts made by Korean coach Park Hang-seo and the football players, Quynh hoped that the team will continue doing their utmost to bring honour to Vietnamese football aficionados.

Park, for his part, thanked the embassy, Vietnamese representative agencies and the Vietnamese community in Malaysia for their great encouragements for the team.

The same day, the Vietnamese Embassy issued an emergency warning to Vietnamese football fans, who will come to Malaysia to cheer on their side in the final first leg of the tournament scheduled on December 11.

Accordingly, they are advised to reduce traveling to Dataran Merdeka as a large-scale rally is likely to take place at the square on December 8.

Besides bearing passports with validity of at least six months, they should protect their personal documents and belongings and must respect Malaysia’s legal regulations as well as customs and practices of the country, including no smoking and drinking alcohol at public and wine-banned restaurants.

In case of emergency, they should contact the embassy’s hotline of 60 321 484 534, 06 321 410 709 or the citizen protection hotline of 84 981848484.

Thai media: Vietnam moves closer to AFF Cup championship title

Cong Phuong scored the second goal for Vietnam in the match with the Philippines on December 6. 

Thai media ran various headlines on Vietnam’s victory over the Philippines in the semifinal return leg of the ASEAN Federation Football (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2018, saying that the team is inching closer to the championship title.

Vietnam had a convincing win with the aggregate score of 4-2 after two semifinal matches with the championship now within reach for the team, Thailand-based Siam Sports wrote. They are very close to winning the AFF Cup trophy for the second time, even if their next opponent in the finals is Malaysia who defeated Thailand in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the Thai version of Goal.com recalled it has been 10 years since the last time Vietnam reached the final. A decade has passed since and the Vietnamese team finally has the joy of entering the AFF cup finals, with fans filled with the hope of sitting on top in Southeast Asia for the second time, it said.

“Two late goals from Nguyen Quang Hai and Nguyen Cong Phuong were enough to send Vietnam, 2-1 ahead from the first leg on Sunday, to their first final of the Southeast Asian biennial tournament since winning the trophy in 2008,” the Thai news outlet Bangkok Post wrote.

“Vietnam, led by South Korean coach Park Hang-seo, is one of the favourites in the running for regional champions, although underdog Malaysia pulled out a surprise win when they eliminated defending champions Thailand in Bangkok on Wednesday,” it added.

Last night, many Koreans stayed up until 11pm (local time) to get updates about the game. Visits to the SBS Sport channel in the Republic of Korea rocketed while “Vietnam live football” climbed to the top search in Naver, a leading Korean search engine.

Vietnamese football fans erupted in joy across the country yet again last night, as the national side booked a place in the AFF cup finals after beating the Philippines 2-1 again in the return leg of the semifinal in My Dinh National Stadium on December 6.

The win means Vietnam will face Malaysia in the final which is a rematch from the group stages in November when Vietnam defeated Malaysia 2-0. 

The first leg of the final will take place at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on December 11, with the return match scheduled for Hanoi four days later on December 15.

National squad receives big bonus after victory at AFF Cup’s semifinal

Vietnam’s national football team received a VND1 billion bonus from the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) after it secured a 4-2 aggregate victory over the Philippines on December 6 and earned a spot in the final of the AFF Cup 2018.

So far, the team has been awarded VND3.1 billion. They will receive another big bonus if they clench a victory in the two-legged final against Malaysia and win the entire competition.

The Vietnamese team has also been granted US$100,000 as a bonus by the ASEAN Federation Football (AFF). Another US$300,000 on top of that will be awarded to the team if they are crowned winners of the AFF Cup.

In addition, The President of Asanzo also kindly gifted  the Vietnamese national squad VND300 million after their victory in the semi-final match.

VNA