At 8:00 p.m. tonight (January 2), the Vietnamese team will host the Thai team at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho). Viet Tri Stadium, not My Dinh Stadium. The capacity is only about 20,000, not 40,000. Referring to the capacity, in fact, is part of the reason to say that the first leg of the 2024 ASEAN Championship final is a "limited edition" for fans.
But because of that, we can see more clearly the positive signs for Vietnamese football after the difficult year of 2024. Remember the recent matches at My Dinh Stadium with the immense and worrisome space. But at this time, it can be said that, not only My Dinh, but even if it were held at the world's largest stadiums with double the capacity, it would still be filled.
That shows that, although there are still limitations, shortcomings, and imperfections, compared to before, the Vietnamese team has "sold enough values to touch the emotions of fans". To be exact, it is to regain the emotions in fans, when they have never stopped loving the team. And with those values, if the ticket brokers "shout" the price many times higher than the actual value, it is completely understandable.
Looking further, when FIFA's fanpage made moves to encourage the Vietnamese team before the final, even the price of air tickets to Bangkok increased sharply. That was a shift with a positive effect from the Vietnamese team, at least in terms of results.
In that change, of course, the role of Nguyen Xuan Son, the naturalized striker who scored 5 goals in just 3 matches and many other impressive performances, cannot be ignored. Along with that is the positivity, the gradual changes in a good direction of domestic players, so that from a starting point of doubt, the belief in many fans about the championship is greater than ever.
For everyone, when the value in return makes them feel worthy, expensive or cheap is no longer important... Therefore, the "limited edition final" really needs a worthy value.
