An escalating series of successes has got Vietnam dreaming of a maiden appearance at the FIFA World Cup — and it is an ambition that suddenly does not seem all that far-fetched.
Nationwide street parties broke out last year when Vietnam reached the final of the Asia U23 Championships and won the Southeast Asian title, but that would be nothing if they qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
It is not out of the question for the nation of 95 million, who have never previously come close to appearing on the world stage, but can now count themselves among Asia’s best.
Vietnam in January reached the last eight of the Asian Cup, losing narrowly to eventual finalists Japan and breaking into the top 100 of FIFA’s world rankings.
Qualification starts in September for the Qatar World Cup, which FIFA hopes to expand to a record 48 teams, and star forward Cong Phuong said that Vietnam are ready to take the next step.
“I do believe it is possible if we have boundless energy, endless efforts and good luck like we had at the Asian Cup,” Phuong said. “We have a great spirit in the Vietnam team and with our coach, Mr Park [Hang-seo], he will definitely be a big help for us to qualify.”
South Korean Park took over Vietnam’s national team in 2017. A member of South Korea’s 2002 World Cup coaching staff, when the cohosts reached the semi-finals, Park has been credited with making Vietnam fitter, harder to beat and mentally stronger.
Park, nicknamed “Uncle Park” in his adopted home, has become so popular that a documentary of his life was released late last year and he has reportedly been discussed in private calls between the prime minister of Vietnam and the president of South Korea.
The 60-year-old has even been credited with helping bring the two nations closer together after a survey showed that the number of Vietnamese with a positive image of South Korea jumped from 61 percent in February last year to 73.8 percent a year later.
Park’s arrival coincided with the emergence of a new generation of young players, many of whom are products of the HAGL-Arsenal JMG Academy in the Vietnamese highlands.
Phuong is one of its finest alumni and the 24-year-old has already played more than 30 times for his country.
“The new wave of talent has come through the different age levels together,” he said.
“Vietnam have invested steadily in the youth system over the past decade,” Phuong added. “We are now seeing the fruits of that huge investment.”
Park has encouraged Vietnamese players to head overseas to develop further.
Phuong is one of three players to leave the V-League, saying goodbye to HAGL to join South Korea’s Incheon United earlier this month.
Goalkeeper Dang Van Lam and midfielder Xuan Truong have joined Thai giants Muangthong United and Buriram United respectively.
Sending players abroad is seen as a positive and necessary step in the journey to the upper levels of Asian soccer, and helps provide a new image for Vietnam after past scandals related to corruption and match-fixing.
“It is good for Vietnam to have players overseas,” Phuong said. “When we played against Japan in the [Asian Cup] quarter-final and lost 1-0, we saw they were full of overseas players, but we were able to compete with them quite well.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but