Mr. Nguyen Tan Hung, a 46-year-old architect living in Cambodia, has been following Vietnamese football for nearly 30 years, especially the national teams. Despite living far away, he always supports the team whenever he has the opportunity, from supporting international matches to visiting the players.
Witnessing the impressive performance of the Vietnamese team at the ASEAN Cup 2024, Mr. Hung could not sit still. Although his work was not yet completed, he decided to temporarily put it aside to be in Bangkok (Thailand) to cheer for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team in the second leg of the final match taking place tonight (January 5).
He shared: "Before I left, my wife nagged me a lot. But I was determined to go. It's not every day that I get the chance to see Vietnam win in Thailand."
To get to Thailand, Mr. Hung drove from Phnom Penh (Cambodia) to the Poipet border gate, a distance of nearly 500 km. After that, he stayed one night at the border gate and hired a Thai driver to continue his journey to the capital Bangkok.
Mr. Hung has a close relationship with the players. Right after arriving in Bangkok, Mr. Hung visited the Vietnamese team at the hotel, encouraged and gave gifts to the members.
Anh Hung is the one who helped U23 Vietnam in the 2022 Southeast Asian U23 Championship campaign. At that time, many members of U23 Vietnam were infected with COVID-19. Anh Hung and his wife cooked, brought medicine, and steamed leaves to the players. Anh Hung also drove from the border to bring players to Cambodia to compete.
At this year's ASEAN Cup, although he could not directly cheer for the team due to his work in Cambodia, Mr. Hung always followed every match and shared his comments. He predicted before the final match: "Thailand is a tough opponent, but Vietnam is no pushover. We have all the advantages. I believe Vietnam will be crowned on Thai soil."
Before leaving, Mr. Hung did not forget to give the team members a special gift. The Vietnamese players reciprocated his feelings with a jersey signed by the entire team, a meaningful gift for a loyal fan like him.
