Quench the thirst for titles
The Vietnamese football team won the ASEAN Cup 2024 on the evening of January 5 in Thailand. After two years of waiting, Vietnamese football, at the national team level, has quenched its thirst for the title of champion of the Southeast Asian regional arena.
“The Vietnamese men's football team performed well in the 2024 ASEAN Cup. Sports people highly appreciate the results that each player and coaching staff of the Vietnamese football team have achieved,” a representative of the Department of Physical Training and Sports shared at Noi Bai Airport (Hanoi) when welcoming the Vietnamese team back home on the afternoon of January 6.
In 2024, Vietnamese football (including soccer and futsal) recorded national teams entering the finals of the Southeast Asian Championship. Statistics show that: the Vietnamese men's football team won the 2024 ASEAN Cup, the women's futsal team won the 2024 AFF Cup, and the men's futsal team was runner-up in the 2024 AFF Cup.
Many experts believe that coach Kim Sang Sik's Gold Medal at the ASEAN Cup 2024 is a smooth start for Vietnamese sports and Vietnamese football in 2025.
After 11 months, Vietnamese football continues its journey to compete in the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand. Vietnamese sports managers clearly understand the professional nature of our participation in the SEA Games, that if football does not have a Gold Medal, it means it has not been successful.
At the 32nd SEA Games, the Vietnamese men's football team only finished third while the women's football team won the Gold Medal.
In fact, the results of the Vietnamese national football teams at the Southeast Asian Championship or the number of medals won by Vietnamese sports in the SEA Games arena do not fully reflect our strength or superiority. However, these are sports tournaments with great social significance that receive special attention and support from fans with the strongest spirit of patriotism. Therefore, each medal always has great spiritual value.
More effective values are needed ahead
High-performance Vietnamese sports continue to aim high with the slogan: "Raising the level of ASIAD, aspiring for the Olympics".
The year 2025 has begun. Vietnamese sports have developed a professional plan and national sports teams have entered training and competition. In terms of expertise, football is one of the national sports teams. We have many other national sports teams that must strive to compete for high results.
Looking back at 2024, Vietnamese sports lacked success due to not winning any medals at the 2024 Paris (France) Olympics. A year earlier, we led the 32nd SEA Games but only won three Gold Medals at the 19th ASIAD, so we faced a lot of criticism from experts and the media. The key issue is how Vietnamese high-performance sports can find a solution to have sustainable strength and not produce results that are sudden and temporary.
Sports expert Nguyen Hong Minh said: “At the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand in 2025, Thailand will include many Olympic sports, but also new sports of a social nature. Vietnamese sports managers need to make appropriate calculations to have an effective transition from the SEA Games to the ASIAD and the Olympics, instead of focusing only on SEA Games medals without important achievements at the ASIAD.”
This year, the 33rd SEA Games will be hosted by Thailand in December 2025. This is the usual time for previous regional sports events (except for the 31st and 32nd SEA Games held in May). The sports event taking place at the end of the year will be a time for each sport (including Vietnam) to evaluate their preparation and look at the overall picture after a year of professional activities.
