* I'm...
That was the statement of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during a meeting to congratulate and commend the national men's football team after the team won the 2024 ASEAN Cup championship.
The Vietnamese football team has won the Southeast Asian regional tournament three times, but perhaps this time is the most special and convincing. In 2008, Cong Vinh's header in extra time at My Dinh Stadium was a lucky one. Ten years later, coach Park Hang-seo and his team won the championship after defeating Malaysia, which was not a strong team in the tournament. And this time, Mr. Kim Sang-sik and his players created a miracle: Vietnam became the first team to win against Thailand in both legs of the Southeast Asian football final, to win the ASEAN Cup for the third time. Vietnam also set a record for winning the ASEAN Cup, with 7 matches. After 29 years of history, no team has done this in a single tournament, not even Thailand. Vietnam ended the 2024 ASEAN Cup with 7 wins, 1 draw and no losses.
Looking back at the preparation and tournament journey, it can be seen that it was not an easy journey. There were many doubts about Mr. Kim Sang-sik's team before the tournament. However, the steadfastness in each match, the powerful playing style, the new factors such as Van Vi and especially Nguyen Xuan Son convinced the fans.
It is clear that the Vietnamese team this time is a united collective, the players follow the coach's tactics at a high level and strictly follow the arrangements of Mr. Kim Sang-sik. Discipline and solidarity have created strength. Even in the second leg of the final, there were times when the team encountered difficulties, when they were behind 2-1. But the more difficult it was, the higher the determination, the more burning the will and the team received worthy results. That is bravery.
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I joined the crowd of people “going crazy” after the victory of the Vietnam team. Maybe millions of people. No, the whole nation was sharing the joy. Amidst a forest of red flags with yellow stars fluttering, amidst the proud shouts of “Vietnam, Vietnam”, I realized the great energy of my people.
Suddenly I asked myself: What can football, its beauty and charm, its strange ability to inspire, do for the future of this country and this people?
Football is not just football, not just a sport. Football is culture, football is history, football is spirit, the breath of social emotions. This sport has a tremendous power of inspiration!
Among the people laughing and talking happily out there, there must have been many people who were previously worried about life, about the pressures of work, about making a living. I got to know a young man who drove a technology car. He said: “Today, I have been taking customers and delivering goods for nearly 14 hours. But when the team played, I turned off the app, watched the match and went out to celebrate with my girlfriend. Today is a special day. At this moment, I no longer have worries, no longer feel tired.”
Football touches shoeshine boys, motorbike taxi drivers, farmers, workers, artists, scientists, businessmen and politicians...
Football will make the country better.
I have a foreign friend who texted me: “I watched the clips of the championship celebrations in Vietnam and I am sure that: Vietnam is not only one of the countries that love football the most in the world, but also the Vietnamese love their country's flag among the top in the world.”
You are right, the flag is the symbol of the country. Loving the flag is also loving the homeland, the Fatherland.
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A tournament, an impressive victory shows where Vietnamese football stands, but the important thing is what lessons are learned and how far we aspire to go.
Victory at the ASEAN Cup 2024 must be the beginning of a new aspiration, a determination to rise up of Vietnamese football and Vietnamese sports.
A young businessman after watching the matches of the Vietnam National Team concluded: “The messages from football are very useful for business and life. We start from zero, like the initial score of a match. Our opponent is destiny. Our mission is to fight with all our might to win.
When a player receives the ball, he must dribble forward. Life is the same, we are moving forward. But sometimes the player must pass the ball back to create opportunities for his teammates. That is the principle of one step back, three steps forward. When in a difficult situation, put aside personal interests to aim for the common interests of the group.
In a match, the spirit of solidarity and support for teammates is an important factor, the opponent will never let you easily pass and put the ball into the net. However, the match will be lost without outstanding individuals. You will not succeed if you do not try to become outstanding. But do not forget that there is no success without the help, no matter how little or much, of the people around. In the stands are the fans. They are parents, family, friends. They give us the spiritual strength to move forward.
There are many lessons from football to apply in life. In the meeting with the team, the Prime Minister hoped and believed that this victory of the team would create motivation and inspiration for all of us to continue to turn difficulties and challenges into opportunities to surpass ourselves in all areas.
It should also be mentioned that before meeting the Vietnamese Team, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Amandeep Singh Gill, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Digital and Emerging Technology, and Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Technology, who is visiting and working in Vietnam. The UN Under-Secretary-General commented: Vietnam is in the process of becoming a powerful country.
The Vietnamese football team, with its success at the Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024, has truly become a driving force and inspiration for the aspiration to become a great power. Football, along with many other fields, will be ready to enter a new era, an era of national growth.
