Vietnamese athletes celebrate Tet, home is the place to return

TSPECIAL END OF XUAN SON

For Vietnamese football players, this year’s Lunar New Year is a particularly valuable opportunity to rest. After winning the AFF Cup 2024 championship, the players were not immediately “relaxed” but still played in domestic tournaments. The fact that Vietnamese football is synchronized with the international competition schedule will cause teams to not have much time to rest when the V-League will return on February 5 (ie the 8th day of Tet). That’s why the players want to take advantage of the short Tet days to spend time with their families.

Striker Tien Linh shared that he and his parents will return to his hometown of Hai Duong to wish their relatives a Happy New Year. “The 2024 AFF Cup championship is the result of great efforts from the whole team. We have tried our best to win for our fans. Thanks to that, this year’s Tet will be even happier and more meaningful.” The coaching staff of the Vietnamese team and Binh Duong Club have advised us very carefully that we will enjoy spring but not forget our mission “, Linh said.

It has been 5 years of celebrating Tet in Vietnam, but this year Nguyen Xuan Son will have a very special Tet as this is the first time he and his family celebrate Vietnamese Tet with the mindset of a Vietnamese person. Son will temporarily leave the hospital and return to Nam Dinh with his wife and children to celebrate Tet. In parallel with the recovery exercises according to the doctors’ lesson plans, the striker born in 1997, his wife Marcele and their young children eagerly celebrated Tet according to Vietnamese customs and traditions. The top scorer of AFF Cup 2024 is eagerly waiting for the feeling of welcoming New Year’s Eve as well as wishing friends and colleagues with his family. This will help Xuan Son become stronger and more optimistic to return to the field soon.

Midfielder Thanh Chung (who just entered the top 5 nominated for the 2024 Vietnam Golden Ball title) will also take his wife and children to Tuyen Quang to celebrate Tet. The couple lives in the same hometown so it is quite convenient for them to move. As for the captain of Viettel The Cong Club, midfielder Bui Tien Dung, it will be a bit more difficult to divide the time to celebrate the New Year between his paternal home in H. Duc Tho (Ha Tinh) and maternal home in Bac Ninh. “Fortunately, the highway has been completed, so it shortened a lot of time. Myself and my family are already used to it, so we consider the joy of going to celebrate New Year with our two families as an opportunity for the whole family to go on a spring trip at the beginning of the year. There is nothing warmer and happier than moments spent with family,” Tien Dung shared. Near Tet, Bui Tien Dung posted on his personal page a picture of him and his daughter going shopping for Tet, in the father’s hand is a beautiful kumquat tree, and in the child’s hand is a typical Tet gift.

Also attracting great attention in the online community is striker Hendrio of Nam Dinh Club with his “move” of boasting about buying peaches and kumquats to display for Tet. He speaks Vietnamese very fluently, making viewers extremely excited. Hendrio is going through the process of naturalization in Vietnam and if he is successful and maintains good form, Xuan Son’s teammate can be called up to the Vietnamese team.

KLONELY HIPS

These days, the National Sports Training Centers in Hanoi, Can Tho, Da Nang, and Bac Ninh also allow players to return home early to celebrate Tet to avoid train and traffic jams. After a year of hard training and competition, the athletes are eager to return to enjoy spring with family, friends, and relatives for a few days before returning with the goal of “flying high, flying far” with Vietnamese sports.

But there are also athletes who cannot celebrate Tet at home because they are busy with national duties. Vietnam’s No. 1 male badminton player Le Duc Phat will attend the Thailand Masters 2025 international badminton tournament taking place from January 28 to February 3 (the 6th day of Tet). “Last year, I also spent Tet away from home when I played two consecutive tournaments in Azerbaijan and Iran to accumulate points to hunt for tickets to the Paris Olympics. At that time, Nguyen Hai Dang and I went together, we were competitors on the field. But since I’m close friends in real life, it’s less sad to have to celebrate Tet away from home. This year, my goal is to be in the top 50 in the world. Besides, I also dream of touching a medal at the SEA Games arena, so I want to. have the best preparation”, Le Duc Phat shared. Duc Phat entered the main round of the men’s singles event at the Thailand Masters international badminton tournament, so it is likely that he will compete on January 29 (the first day of Tet). The tennis player from Dong Nai wants to have a good start as a valuable gift for himself and his fans.

The Lunar New Year also coincides with the start of the Indonesian volleyball championship (Proliga), so top Vietnamese volleyball star Tran Thi Thanh Thuy – who is joining Gresik Petrokimia Pupuk Club – also has to celebrate Tet in the land of thousands of islands. . Having competed in Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, and Türkiye, Thanh Thuy has many times celebrated Tet away from her homeland. Her professionalism, ability to be independent, and adapt well to many different environments help Thanh Thuy not feel “lonely” when she cannot celebrate Tet with her family. Thuy’s colleague Tran Thi Bich Thuy also celebrated Tet away from home while joining GS Caltex Club to compete in the Korean championship. According to the match schedule, Bich Thuy and her teammates will compete against Hyundai Hillstate Club on the afternoon of the first day of Tet. This is a memorable memory in the playing career of Bich Thuy, a promising talent of the Vietnamese women’s volleyball team.

Because the Asian Road Cycling Championship takes place from February 5 (8th of Tet), the Vietnamese cycling team with 20 members must “camp” to practice throughout Tet. Among them, 8 young players led by coach Mai Cong Hieu practice in Da Nang, while a group of famous players such as Nguyen Thi That and Pham Le Xuan Loc train in Binh Thuan. “An important tournament is near, so the athletes are encouraged to stay at the training center throughout Tet. The coaching staff is very happy that all the players expressed their determination, sacrificing their own joy during Tet to get good status. “I’m at my best, contributing to the Vietnamese cycling team in the Asian tournament. After completing our mission, we will celebrate Tet to make up for it,” coach Mai Cong Hieu shared. These days and throughout Tet, young Vietnamese cyclists are still diligently climbing on “iron horses” to conquer Hai Van Pass, which is a familiar training route. Meanwhile, on the sunny and windy coastal road in Binh Thuan, female racer Nguyen Thi That and other players also train hard to accumulate a strong physical foundation, the best competition state, ready for the competition. HCV protection goals in Asia.

THELL KIM WHAT WILL YOU DO? ?

Coach Kim Sang-sik only took a few days off in Korea and returned to Vietnam to work. During the Lunar New Year, when the domestic tournament is temporarily paused, he will invite his friends to his home (a villa belonging to the Vietnam Youth Football Center, right next to the headquarters of the Vietnam Football Federation) or go to celebrate the New Year. Vietnamese friend. Mr. Kim once confessed that Vietnamese and Korean cultures are quite similar, so he found similarities in the pace of life. He also wished the Vietnamese people a peaceful new year and Vietnamese football a successful and lucky year.

Chi Dat