ASIAN CUP CELEBRATIONS 

IN CENTRAL VIETNAM

The celebrations in Vietnam during the 2018 Asian Football Confederation Under-23 Championship (a.k.a. the Asian Cup), took place nationwide on the nights of the semi-final victory of 23rd January and the final defeat of 27th January.

The Vietnam Under-23 team broke new ground during the 2018 tournament. The national squad had previously never gotten past the group stages, but this tournament was different. Vietnam finished second in their group, and the knock-out stages were even more unexpected, with Vietnam winning two penalty shoot-outs against Iraq and Oman. Vietnam then became the first South East Asian side ever to reach the final of the Asian Cup, despite having won only a single match in the whole tournament. Virtually the whole country came out to celebrate the historic moment.

The day of the final was declared a national holiday and festivities began on Sunday morning. Kick-off was in the afternoon and things started badly for Vietnam as Uzbekistan took an early lead. The fact that the opposition was wearing white shirts in snowy conditions did not help matters, but Vietnam managed to equalize towards the end of the first half. Nguyễn Quang Hải became the second highest goal scorer in the tournament when he converted a free-kick in the 41st minute.

The match lasted longer than expected, with the second half being delayed due to extremely heavy snowfall in the Olympic Sports Centre in Changzhou. As play resumed, neither side could get the upper hand and so extra time was given. Eventually, Vietnam lost in the 120th minute but the nation of supporters nevertheless celebrated as if they had won it. As well as silver medals, Vietnam was presented with the Fair Play award.