Roller-coaster year for Vietnamese football
Vietnamese football has had its fill of success and failure this year. The Bong Da (Football) newspaper named what it considered to be the top ten…
1. Viet Nam successfully co-hosted the region”s biggest football competition, the Asian Cup, which was co-hosted in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia last July.
It was the first time Viet Nam had hosted the tournament, and the organisers did the country proud.
Vietnamese footballers shone during the Cup, defeating Gulf Cup holders the United Arab Emirates 2-0 and drawing 1-1 with Qatar before losing 4-1 to defending champions Japan in their first Asian Cup for 47 years. Viet Nam were the only co-hosts to get as far as the quarter-finals, where they lost to Iraq, who went on to win the title.
2. The men”s U-23 team disappointed fans by leaving the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand empty handed. It was hoped that Viet Nam would win their first SEA Games footballing title, following their success at the Asian Cup and the Beijing Olympics qualifiers earlier in the year.
Viet Nam struggled to qualify in the group stages, where they lost to underdogs Singapore 3-2. The team further disappointed fans by losing to unfancied Myanmar, who had never beaten Viet Nam, in the semi-finals on penalties. The most shocking defeat however was the humiliating 5-0 loss to Singapore in the tie for third place.
3. Austrian coach Alfred Riedl resigned after the team”s poor showing in Thailand.
The 58-year-old Austrian quit as head coach after Viet Nam lost to minnows Myanmar in the semis. Riedl, who has held the national coaching job three times in the last ten years, helped steer Viet Nam to three SEA Games and ASEAN Football championship, formerly known Tiger Cup silver medals two in Viet Nam and one in the Philippines the country”s best regional performance.
4. The men”s team disappointed fans with their third-place finish at the ASEAN Football Federation Cup earlier this year, which they were expected to win.
5. The men”s Olympic team reached the third qualifying round of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games under local assistant coach Mai Duc Chung, who replaced Riedl after the Austrian resigned during the SEA Games in Thailand.
Chung, 58, who guided the women”s team to their third consecutive SEA Games title in the Philippines in 2005, applied a new defence-quick-attack formation which worked well for the Vietnamese team while Riedl underwent a kidney transplant operation in Austria.
6. Becamex Binh Duong won the V-League for the first time.
The southern team dominated Viet Nam”s top football league, under the coaching of Le Thuy Hai. They won the title four weeks before the season ended.
7. The women”s team won a silver at the 24th SEA Games, under the coaching of Chinese-born Chen Yun-fat.
Chen took the job just a few months before the December 6-15 Games in Thailand, where three-time defending champions Viet Nam faced major challenges during the year, such as having their coaches replaced three times and losing many of their best players through retirement. Despite these setbacks, the team finished second, losing to hosts Thailand in the final.
8. The Army Club or The Cong Viettel, were promoted back into the V-League after three seasons in the First Division.
9. The women”s futsal (indoor football) team won the Thailand SEA Games silver at their first attempt.
The Vietnamese women lost to hosts Thailand in the final.
10. Dam Phu My Nam Dinh won the National Cup at their eighth attempt, coached by Nguyen Ngoc Hao.
The northern team twice finished second in 2001 and 2004.
VNS
