Adventures in Vietnamese Football
We depart briefly from our usual style of blog post to complete a report from our recent flirtation with football in Hue. Don’t run away, it may just amuse even those who aren’t football (soccer) fans.
From the exterior the Stadium Tu Do looks like it could do with a bit of a facelift. Built in 1930 by the French who unimaginatively named it Stade Olympique, it bears all the hallmarks of a stadium which has received minimal investment since its creation. The ticket office is a little plastic table out in the street where a tiny ageing lady sells match tickets, pineapple chunks on sticks and bottles of water. No hot dogs or hamburgers here. The priciest of her three items is the match ticket at a burgeoning 92p.
We estimate that around five or six hundred local fans file in to join us, mostly in our stand but with a smattering of drum beating flag waving hardy individuals over on the other side. There are no away supporters. Players and fans alike pay dutiful respect to the national anthem then we’re underway, a National Cup match between FC Hue, struggling a bit in the second tier of the V-League, up against one of the country’s best sides, the beautifully named Becamex Binh Duong, runners up in the Premier League last season.
Comparisons with football back home are inevitable, the first of which is the playing surface, predictably inferior and giving a bobble or two to even the shortest pass. Becamex in their neat all white kit look superior even before kick off as Hue, in their more ragged blue kit, hilariously listed on line as “fake Adidas”, glance across at their fitter looking opponents.
The home contingent clearly have a darling – their tiny-waisted energetic number 11 who with quick feet soon gives the impression that he’s hoping for a transfer to the big time. Despite his talent though he is startlingly lightweight and gets little change out of a Becamex defence well marshalled by a sweeper bearing more than a passing resemblance to Ashley Williams, in terms of both playing style and hair style.
Somewhere around 25 minutes in the visitors are ahead when the striker confidently finishes an accurate cross field delivery. It’s good to see fathers with sons and daughters in the seats around us, kids being brought up to support their local team – but one Dad throws his arms up in despair as the opening goal goes in. A couple of rows away is another Western couple like us – it turns out they’re from Bristol, what is it about the English that draws us to obscure football grounds in far off places?
A flurry by Hue brings a free kick close to the by-line: a clever training ground routine gives Number 11 his chance of glory, but he skies his shot well over from twelve yards and the chance is gone. Half time 0-1.
Two half time substitutions give hope to the locals – hope that lasts all of 20 seconds as Becamex sweep forward and net a second straight from the restart. Within minutes it’s 0-3 as Hue’s goalkeeper, club skipper yet clearly an Achilles heel, leaves far too wide a gap towards the far corner and the Becamex winger takes full advantage.
My admiration for the father-and-child combos takes a knock as they, like roughly a quarter of the crowd, head for the exits despite there being a good 30 minutes to go. Maybe they watch Man Utd fans on TV. They’re not long gone when it’s 0-4 as the dodgy home keeper is fooled by a flick-on from a corner and there’s a free header at the back post.
A late effort against the crossbar is the closest Hue come to a consolation, and as full time approaches the darling Number 11 gets more and more tetchy and twice exchanges handbag blows with the opposition. The referee, over fussy right from the start, gleefully dishes out some quickfire yellow cards. Number 11 sulks, but to be fair the lad does have talent, just not enough to make up for the fact that he only weighs about seventy pounds.
Becamex strut towards full time, the classy Ashley Williams lookalike sweeper ensuring that standards are upheld, marshalling his team both by example and by instruction. He’s a cut above everyone else on the field.
In the end class has told and the better team have won by a distance. Those locals still in their seats as the game finishes applaud politely before turning away to get back on the moped and head home for tea.
We stay to the end. So do the couple from Bristol. Of course they do, they’re British.
28 Comments
wetanddustyroads
Shame, the poor goalkeeper of Hue! And poor Number 11. No free pineapple chunks on sticks after the game for the home team … or even for the British supporters?
Phil & Michaela
Indeed not….enjoyable couple of hours though…
N Laughton
Nice to see you out scouting for the Rams for next season.
Phil & Michaela
Ah yes….not too much talent on display in Hue I’m afraid…
Alison
We’ve also been to Hue but definitely not to a football match!
The citadel is amazing, maybe I’ve missed that post 😬
We stayed at the Saigon Moirin Hotel and Charlie Chaplin stayed there once so they have his films playing on a wall in the courtyard.
A funny story, my luggage was delayed by three days so had to run around looking for new stuff, well you know the size of the Vietnamese ladies. It was very difficult for me to find anything, so my dear hubby very kindly kept saying to the store owners..”you have big like this” as he hiked his underpants over his trousers and pointed to me! And they would look me up and down and shake their heads sorrowfully.
Phil & Michaela
Ha yes I can imagine. Even my T shirt size is XXXL over here….I never thought I’d have to buy the biggest size! The citadel at Hue was in our post on Monday….called “Tam Coc To Hue: Inside The Imperial City”….and yes, it’s amazing!
Phil & Michaela
Oh and by the way, love the story…..your hubby clearly has a heart of gold and you should treasure his thoughtfulness….😂😂
Alison
Never know what is going to come out of his mouth next
Monkey's Tale
The fans were probably like Calgarians, they wanted to beat the traffic so left early. 😊
Phil & Michaela
When it comes to mopeds, there’s no such thing as beating the traffic in Vietnam!
Monkey's Tale
🤣🤣
Andrew Petcher
Cheaper than a Premier League fixture.
Phil & Michaela
Just a bit
WanderingCanadians
I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that we typically leave a few minutes before the end of a sporting event, with a few exceptions. Traffic or dealing with transit afterwards in Toronto can be brutal as the stadiums are typically packed.
Phil & Michaela
I can’t bring myself to leave early whatever the circumstances! Stoic British I guess…
grandmisadventures
I think more soccer games should have pineapple on a stick and bottles of water for sell with the game ticket. What a fantastic experience to get to be part of there in Vietnam 🙂
Phil & Michaela
Once I saw the match was on, I kind of had to be there!
grandmisadventures
Absolutely! When fate gives you something so great as Vietnamese football you have to go 🙂
Toonsarah
I love the ticket office and the idea of pineapple on sticks as refreshments – shades of Abigail’s Party? (My memory may be playing tricks on me, but surely there were pineapple chunks on sticks there??!)
I deplore the habit of some fans of leaving before the final whistle but I sadly don’t think it’s confined to Man Utd or to the Vietnamese. Not so much these days (from what I can see on TV) but certainly in the past I’ve seen Newcastle fans do so. Most memorably, some left at half-time when we were 0-4 down against Arsenal, missing one of the greatest come-backs of all time! My argument has always been that the fans have a job to do as much as the players, and you don’t see the latter leaving before the end (Mitrovic and his ilk excepted).
Phil & Michaela
Cheese & pineapple chunks on cocktail sticks yes….very 70s and yes definitely at Abigail’s Party. The ones in Hue were bigger – no doubt you’ve seen them over here, where they carve a section of the fresh pineapple into a shape and put it on a kebab skewer, that’s what these were. Yep, all clubs have fans who leave early but Utd fans have a reputation for it…I remember them all walking out at White Hart Lane when Sours went 3-0 up early. Utd won 3-6. I can honestly say that I’ve never left before the final whistle at any of the 1000s (it seems) of matches I’ve been to.
Toonsarah
Me either – it’s an absolute no for us, even under the Ashley regime when match-going felt more like a duty than a pleasure.
leightontravels
Great stuff, Phil. As fate would have it my next post also includes a segment about watching football in a foreign country. Your experience has a lot of charm to it. The “ticket office”, the Vietnamese Ashley Williams, the featherweight number 11. The agony of supporting a shit team that has me worrying about QPR all over again as we approach the business end of the season. Is it just me or were you miles away from the pitch?
Phil & Michaela
Ah well like lots of foreign stadia it was one of those annoying grounds with a running track around it. Always a pain but at least the stand was steep so the view was good. I always enjoy watching football at any level so was pleased that the time worked out so well on this one.
Lookoom
It is certainly interesting to see with the eye of an expert how local customs fit with football which is such an international game. I can’t remember in which country I saw a sloping pitch that couldn’t be homologated, but that didn’t stop the kids from playing.
Annie Berger
I continue to be amazed with your prodigious talents – not just a fabulous writing and photographer team but now an excellent sports writer to add to your resume!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you Annie! Such compliments!
Hugh "Hobby" Barndollar
Nice post!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you!