Business as usual
Fans return to Vietnamese stadiums
On June 5, Vietnam’s V-League kicked off for the second time this year. The Southeast Asian country followed Germany and South Korea in bringing the game back quickly after the coronavirus outbreak, but there was a difference. Inside the stadium, rather than supporters on video screens and cardboard cut-outs – or “adult” dolls as installed mistakenly by FC Seoul in their first home game of the season – there were actual real-life fans. There were no fake crowd noises or shouts but genuine sounds, and that non-stop Vietnamese atmosphere of singing and dancing. It was just like it always was.
Well, almost.
While the wearing of masks was not mandatory, fans had temperatures taken upon entry and there was plenty of hand sanitiser to go around. And stadiums were reduced to half capacity to provide some sort of social distancing – although that didn’t always work.
When Hong Linh Ha Tinh hosted Hanoi FC, rather than10,000 at the 20,000-capacity arena in Ha Tinh there were around 22,000. The stadium in the northern part of the country was so overcrowded that the game was delayed for 22 minutes as fans spilled out from the packed terraces onto the pitch.
Apart from the discomfort, there were few other health worries. While New Zealand earned plenty of international plaudits for declaring itself free of the coronavirus on June 8, no country has handled the virus as well as Vietnam. Despite a long land border with China and a population of close to100 million, Vietnam has had zero deaths thanks to strict measures that were taken early.
“Vietnam has faced the challenge of the coronavirus very well,” said Ho Chi Minh City FC coach Jung Hae-sung, a native of South Korea, another country that had controlled the virus. “It shows the potential of this country and it shows the potential of football here.”
That is certainly true. Vietnam loves football and loves the national team. The Golden Stars have slowly become the No.1 in Southeast Asia. Popular coach Park Hang-seo, another South Korean, has built a team around a generation of talented young
players that reached the final of the 2018 Asian U23 Championship. They were cheered on by millions of red-shirted fans who took to the streets of the capital Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh City – still known as Saigon by the locals – way down in the south.
The fans were out again at the end of the year as the senior side, featuring many of those same youngsters, won Southeast Asia’s biennial AFF Cup. A few weeks later the Golden Stars made the last eight of the 2019 Asian Cup before being knocked out by Japan.
Good performances in qualification for the 2022 World Cup have the team on course for a first appearance in the final stage where12 teams battle it out for four spots. Even if they don’t make Qatar, there is a real hope that with expansion in 2026, Vietnam will be on the world stage before long. There are talented players such as Nguyen Quang Hai, a 23-year-old attacking midfielder regarded as the best in Southeast Asia and one of the best on the continent, and Doan Van Hau, recently on loan at Dutch side Heerenveen, and the only player so far to play in Europe. With many more coming through some of the country’s excellent academies, it is no surprise that the national team is going from strength to strength.
Yet while Vietnam may have overtaken regional rivals at national level, the same can’t be said of the V-League. Thailand still rules the regional roost in that regard and Malaysia is also a force. There has not yet been a Vietnamese club that has become a side to compare with Buriram United of Thailand or Malaysia’s Johor Darul Tazim.
Past corruption and incompetence as well as political interference has held the league back. Attendances, despite the recent overcrowding, have also been fairly low at around 7,000. There has been a drive to modernise the way the clubs are run, and to become more business and community-minded. If that continues, then the league should be able to make the steps that it needs to make.
Overall, though, the future is looking bright. There is real talent in Vietnam and the national team is on the up. And, most importantly for the moment, there are fans in stadiums. How lots of other leagues would love to say the same.
There are talented players – Nguyen Quang Hai, a 23-year-old attacking midfielder regarded as the best in Southeast Asia, and Doan Van Hau, the only player so far to play in Europe