This Sunday, January 5, the Vietnamese national Football team defeated Thailand 3-2 in the second leg of the ASEAN Cup final in Bangkok. Vietnam won the Southeast Asian Football Championship for the third time with a final score of 5-3. Less than 10 minutes after kick-off, Vietnam opened the scoring thanks to a goal from Tuan Hai, followed by a goal from Hai Long.
ASEAN Cup 2024: Vietnam wins against Thailand 2-1
The Vietnamese sealed the score by scoring the third goal in stoppage time, taking advantage of a Thai cage left empty following an all-out offensive from the opposing team. The Thai team, however, found the fault in the Vietnamese defense twice, making this match particularly intense and rich in emotions for supporters of both camps. After 15 minutes of added time in the second half, the score remained frozen, triggering a wave of enthusiasm among the Golden Star fans.
While some sang the national anthem, others waved flags and ran through the streets of major cities. Little by little, the supporters, as if driven by a collective momentum, got on their scooters to wander en masse. Very quickly, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in veritable processions of two-wheelers, honking their horns relentlessly. Vuvuzelas, pots, drums: everything was good to make noise and celebrate.
-“Bringing up a storm”
In this atmosphere of festive chaos, flares and fireworks lit up the urban skies. According to several local media, more than a million people participated in “đi bão” – literally “making a storm”. In Hanoi, compact crowds invaded the boulevards, while similar scenes took place in Saigon, Hue, and in the country’s major cities.
“This kind of gathering really started to become popular in 2018, when Vietnam reached the semi-finals of the U23 Asian Cup. At first, people were surprised to see so many people in the streets, but now it is part of the customs. Many participants are not particularly interested in football; they are just proud to wave the Vietnamese flag, to be patriotic, and to support their country,” explains Ngoc, a supporter coming out of Bia Hoi.
Slogans like “Việt Nam vô địch” (Vietnam is champion) or “Thái Lan, tới luôn” (a formula difficult to translate politely) were chanted by delirious crowds. The atmosphere was suffocating, amplified by record pollution in recent days, but the collective fervor was enough to warm hearts throughout the country.
