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Vietnam’s football takes off, soars high

Vietnam’s football takes off, soars high

Wednesday, June 17, 2015, 10:27 GMT+7

Editor's note: Huu Chon, a 46-year-old resident in Ho Chi Minh City, dreams about Vietnam's football taking off to a new height in 2035 in his entry submitted to the “Ky Vong Viet Nam 20 Nam Toi” (“My Expectations for Vietnam in 20 Years”) writing contest.

After being beaten by the British team in the 2034 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals, the Vietnamese football (soccer) team resolves to start afresh, with archrival Thailand being their first contender in the 2038 FIFA World Cup qualification round.

Compared to the encounter in the same qualification round in 2015, the Thai team would no longer be a cause for concern for Vietnamese footballers. The 2035 Vietnamese team, still coached by Japanese “soccer sorcerer” Toshiya Miura, would then boast physique, professional skills and sportsmanship that far exceed their counterparts in several Asian countries. Vietnam would secure the 30th spot in the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) rankings, while Thailand would resign themselves to a modest 118th place.

We would have been once announced the champion of the Asian Cup and be then aiming at even bigger targets, especially as Vietnam would host the 2042 World Cup finals.

By 2035, Japanese coach Miura would have been dedicated to Vietnamese football for 21 years, just as Sir Alex Ferguson coached Manchester United for 28 years. The Japanese coach, who has fallen head over heels in love with Vietnam and its people, would have been naturalized as a Vietnamese citizen and settled down in the Southeast Asian country along with his wife and children. Interestingly enough, his eldest son would play for Vietnam's top-flight club SHB Da Nang.

What’s more, the sons of former world-famous footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Lionel Messi (Argentina) would have been recruited by Vietnam’s prestigious teams, including Ho Chi Minh City Club and Hanoi T&T. Several Vietnamese coaches would be “exported” to other regional countries. For instance, Le Cong Vinh would train the Indonesian team, while the Singaporean team would perform well under the coaching of Vietnamese defender Que Ngoc Hai.

Vietnamese female footballers would also emulate their male counterparts. The women would have won the Asian Cup and would be gearing up for the FIFA Women's World Cup finals.

Apart from football, Vietnamese teams in many other sports would also see robust growth and reap resounding success at Asian and global tournaments. Team Vietnam would, for the first time ever, claim gold medals in swimming and shooting at the 2032 Olympics.

These dizzying strides made by Vietnamese athletes would result in stadiums and sports centers filled to the rim with spectators, who would behave well.

These are my expectations for Vietnamese football and sports in general in 20 years’ time.

Several factors are conducive to this success. Among them is the Vietnamese sports authorities’ visionary, bold decision in returning the right to organize the 19th Asian Games, also known as Asiad, which is poised to run in 2018. The withdrawal has saved a colossal sum, at least US$150 million, which would be invested heavily in the sports sector, including infrastructure, coach and athlete training.

In addition, the local sports sector’s mechanism should also be reinforced and enhanced in terms of quality and quantity. Those with talent, exemplary work ethics, a professional attitude and dedication should be employed. Sports officials should also encourage athletes during training and competitions.

Once the mechanism operates seamlessly, it would spur the Vietnamese sports sector, particularly football, to further heights. A movement themed “Everyone Plays Sports” should also be maintained well.

The government should stipulate that enterprises with 200 workers or more have plots totaling at least 400 square meters in area which are used as sports grounds. Projects to build luxury or mid-level apartment buildings and residential areas need space for fitness activities.

When it comes to the construction of schools, each student should be entitled to an average of two square meters of land for workouts and fitness. This is where our shortcomings are. A glimpse of sports powers reveals their undivided attention to physical education at school. Apart from conventional teaching, teachers majoring in this discipline should have keen eyes for innate sports talents, who would then be trained under a special regime. This should serve as the talent incubator and “breeding ground” for the country’s sports sector.

Balanced growth in sports should also be ensured. A paradox which has been existent in our country sees that though spacious sports grounds are available in rural areas, local governments lack funding to build such. By contrast, in urban areas, space, not money, is quite hard to come by.

Equal investment should be made in urban and rural, mountainous areas to provide people from all walks of life and age brackets with ready access to sports. We should also make the most of any space available and turn it into sports fields.

I observe that several beaches in Da Nang now boast gym items such as bars, volleyball and basketball pitches thanks to the local government’s efforts so that locals can play their favorite sports.

Mobilizing funding from different sources in society should be accelerated, so that more enterprises and philanthropists would provide sponsorship for the local sports sector. In recent times, those operating in a number of sports such as women's football and men's volleyball have encountered immense difficulty seeking finances to run their clubs. Once they are free from the grip of making a living, local athletes will be wholeheartedly dedicated to their job of training and competing.

Reasonable incentive policies would spur those in the local sports sector on to dedicate and achieve more in the country’s name. On the other hand, each athlete is also supposed to know that they will receive generous sponsorship only if they demonstrate honesty and zeal in their performance.

Talking about football, in addition to existing professional incubators for young talents including Hoang Anh Gia Lai – Arsenal JMG Football Academy and Viettel Football Training Center, the Nutifood HAGL – Arsenal JMG academy is currently recruiting its first batch of students. Such models should be spread to hatch more of the country’s young players and academically and culturally educate them as well. The future generations of footballers will stand out for both excellent professional skills and good morals. The U-19 Hoang Anh Gia Lai footballers’ cultured manners displayed last year are the most convincing evidence.

More visits to and matches with European football teams are also recommended to arm Vietnamese footballers with expertise and experience. Such international football friendship tournaments as the ASEAN Football Federation's Nutifood U19 Cup 2014 should be organized to help speed up young players’ maturity.

I believe that in 20 years’ time, Vietnamese people’s build and physical health will be improved as they are increasingly aware of the role sports engagement plays. As a result, playing fields would be packed with players. There would also be no parties in which participants drink to excess and may get involved in tussles or road accidents. This would spare medical staff and police officers hard work. Vietnamese people would no longer spend some $3 billion on beer each year.

“Ky Vong Viet Nam 20 Nam Toi”  is a competition organized by the World Bank in Vietnam and Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that encourages local youths to write down their wildest, yet feasible, dreams about how Vietnam will change in 20 years’ time.

TUOI TRE NEWS

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