Vietnam sports

Major streets of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and virtually any localities across Vietnam have once again been a sea of red on Saturday night as the national football team won the Asean Football Federation Championship for the first time since 2008.

The Golden Stars beat Malaysia 1-0 in the second leg of the final on their home turf in Hanoi with a brilliant volley by Nguyen Anh Duc, securing a 3-2 aggregate triumph to win the regional title, exactly ten years after their first trophy in 2008.

As Vietnam is known for celebrating any victories of their beloved football team, Saturday’s feat has unsurprisingly sparked nationwide celebrations.

An audio-visual feast, with the red color seen everywhere and the space filled with the bizarre sound sound of vuvuzela-like horns, was simultaneously held across the country shortly after the last whistle of the Vietnam – Malaysia clash at the 40,000-seat My Dinh National Stadium was blown at round 9:30 pm.

This is what known as di bao , literally translated as “going like a storm,” in Vietnamese.

The celebration involves people taking to the street, usually on their motorbikes, with the national flags and anything that can ‘make some noise,’ literally, to glorify the triumphs of the country’s national football team.

On Saturday night, people, with national flags in their hands and flag- or heart-themed stickers glued on their cheeks and foreheads, flooded main streets in big cities and provinces countrywide, shouting in triumph.

Some blew their horns while others enthusiastically beat their ‘drums,’ which were in fact pots and pans.

Below are photos of the celebrations taken by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper:

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The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City is working on a dossier seeking UNESCO’s recognition for the tunnels.

Located in Tan Phu Trung and Phuoc Vinh An communes in Cu Chi district, about 70km from downtown HCM City, the tunnels were built by local residents and soldiers using simple tools from 1946 to 1968 as shelters from US and Saigon troops during the war.

Initially, they dug only short sections with simple structure to hide documents, weapons and resistance members. The tunnels were gradually connected and extended into a system which by 1965 had a combined length of about 200km of underground trenches arranged in three floors. The deepest floor is about 8-12 metres under the ground.

The tunnel system runs in a zig-zag shape underground, and the main route branches out in multiple directions that connect in some areas, depending on the terrain.

Many exits open to the Saigon River so that in emergencies residents in the tunnels could escape by river route to Ben Cat resistance base in Binh Duong province.

The tunnel system is bulletproof and can withstand the weight of tanks and armoured vehicles.

To complete the construction, dozens of soldiers and residents braved the bombardment of the enemy and worked round the clock dig and remove a huge amount of soil and rock in secrecy.

The Cu Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the wartime. (Photo: Vietnam Pictorial)

During his trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels in 1995, Cuban Minister of Culture Armando Hart Davalos praised the courage and honour of locals, as well as the rich culture of Vietnam, and described the tunnels as a sacred site and great legend.

The system has significantly contributed to the Vietnam’s major victories such as the 1968 Spring Mau Than General Offensive and Uprising, and the Great 1975 Spring Victory.

After 1975, the tunnels have been preserved and upgraded to become a revolutionary historical relic site, and is opened to tourists.

According to the management board of the Cu Chi Tunnels, the relic site has welcomed about 1.5 million visitors each year, including foreign high-ranking leaders and military officers.

Apart from the tunnels as a spotlight, the area now features a site replicating a small village in the liberated Cu Chi zone during the 1960-1975 period, along with a corner displaying weapons.

Tourists will also have a chance to experience farming activities and taste special dishes in Cu Chi, notably “khoai mi” (cassava) that was a main dish of locals during the wartime.

A cultural festival celebrating Hung Kings, known as the country’s founders, will begin on Sunday (April 18) in HCM City and Thu Duc City. Photo suoitien.com

The event opened with a series of traditional games and sports, and cooking competitions at the Hung Kings memorial area located in the Park of Culture and National History in Thu Duc City.

The main ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the kings’ death will be organised on the 10th day of the third month of the lunar calendar, which falls on Wednesday this year.

It will include incense-offering rituals dedicated to the Hung Kings, the National Father Lac Long Quan and National Mother Au Co, hosted by officials from the People’s Party Committee, People’s Committee and Motherland Front Committee.

A special exhibition of pictures and ancient objects featuring the country’s history and culture in different periods is being held.

Folk music and martial arts performances, staged by artists of leading traditional art troupes in the region, will be organised during the ceremony.

Vietnamese songs and instrumental music pieces will be performed. Patriotism, peace, love, youth and spring will be the shows’ themes.

In HCM City, a youth camp called Tự Hào Nòi Giống Tiên Rồng (Proudly Our Legends) with university students will open at 8am on Thursday at the Tao Dan Cultural Park in District 3.

As per tradition, Suoi Tien and Dam Sen parks in districts 9 and 11 will hold events for visitors to pay tribute to the Hung Kings.

The HCM City Book Fair will also open on Nguyen Van Binh Street on Tuesday and Wednesday. The fair will display several thousands of book titles from four local major publishers and book distributors, including the HCM City Book Distribution Corporation and Phuong Nam Books.

Many books will feature topics on Vietnamese history and culture.

“I always visit Tao Dan Park on Hung Kings Memorial Festival every year to offer flowers and incense to commemorate the kings. I wish good health for my family members and prosperity for the whole country,” said Ly Van Chung, a resident of HCM City.

As per tradition, Suoi Tien and Dam Sen parks in districts 9 and 11 will hold events for visitors to pay tribute to the Hung Kings. Photo suoitien.com

According to Vietnamese legend, Lac Long Quan, the son of Kinh Duong Vuong, married Au Co, the daughter of King De Lai. Au Co then gave birth to a sack containing 100 eggs from which 100 children were born.

The couple then decided to separate in order to populate the land. Half of the children followed their mother to the highlands, while the rest went with their father to the sea.

The first child went with his mother Au Co to Phong Chau, now Phu Tho Province. He then became King Hung I and founded Van Lang, the first recorded state in the history of Vietnam.

Ruling the country for 18 generations, the Hung Kings taught the people how to grow wet rice. They chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to rice and sun deities to pray for lush crops.

In Phu Tho, the annual Hung Kings Memorial Festival or Hung KingsTemple Festival, hosted by the province’s government, is organised from the 6th to 10th day of the third month of the lunar year.

The event consists of various ceremonies and entertaining activities for tourists and pilgrims nationwide.

VNS

The event saw the presence of members of the Party Central Committee: Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Deputy Minister of National Defence; and Lieutenant General Huynh Chien Thang, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army.

Connection to the National Public Service Portal, the Ministry of Defence’s public service portal (dichvucong.mod.gov.vn) provides online public services for 29 administrative procedures in six areas including journalism, management of explosives for national defence, civil cryptography, electronic authentication, military policy, and information technology.

The portal has several functions such as online submissions; online payment of fees; management and track record processing; searching for records; and staff assessment and services, among others.

Addressing the meeting, Deputy Defence Minister Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong stressed that the Giron victory created a huge source of support for national liberation movements and the fight against imperialism in Latin America and the world in general, contributing to firmly defending the revolutionary government and marking a decisive turning point to lead the Cuban revolution forward onto the path to socialism.

He took the occasion to extend his greetings to the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC)’s 8th National Congress, which was held from April 16 to 19, voicing his belief that under the leadership of the PCC, Cuba will gain more achievements in building socialism in the beautiful and heroic country.

He reiterated that the solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States, armies, and people of Vietnam and Cuba, which has been nurtured and fostered by generations of the two countries’ leaders, is an exemplary model of bilateral relationship.

He expressed his thanks for Cuba’s support for Vietnam in the its struggle for national liberation in the past as well as in national construction and defence at present.

For his part, Colonel Juan Miguel Garcia Montano, Cuba’s military, naval and air attaché in Vietnam said he was touched by the sincere sentiments from the Vietnamese Party, State, army and people for Cuba over the past six decades.

He affirmed that promoting Vietnam – Cuba relations is a prerequisite to the foreign policies of the two countries, pledging to make further contributions to fostering bilateral ties and intensifying defence cooperation in particular.