The Heat at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho Province) Will Inspire the Vietnam National Team at ASEAN Cup 2024
The Vietnam national team has chosen Viet Tri Stadium as its “home” for the group stage of the 2024 ASEAN Cup. Due to a music show being held at My Dinh Stadium just before the Southeast Asian tournament, the pitch was unable to recover in time and did not meet the required standards for group stage matches. Therefore, under the guidance of Coach Kim Sang Sik, the team will play their two group-stage matches against Indonesia (15/12) and Myanmar (21/12) at Viet Tri Stadium.
Although they won’t be playing on the familiar My Dinh pitch in the group stage, the choice of Viet Tri Stadium is still seen as a positive signal for the Vietnam national team.
The national football team has a good track record when playing at Viet Tri Stadium. The venue first gained attention in mid-2019 when the Vietnam U23 team defeated Myanmar U23 2-0 in a friendly match. At the end of 2020, Viet Tri also hosted a match between the Vietnam national team and Vietnam U23.
Viet Tri Stadium officially “opened” in 2022, becoming the home stadium for Vietnam U23 in the group and semi-final stages of the 31st SEA Games. With the support of tens of thousands of fans, Vietnam U23 defeated Indonesia U23 (3-0), Myanmar U23 (1-0), Timor Leste U23 (2-0), and drew with Myanmar U23 (0-0) to reach the semi-finals.
In the final for a spot in the gold medal match, Vietnam U23 again triumphed 1-0 against Malaysia U23, with a goal that ignited the stadium, scored by Tiến Linh in extra time.
Coach Park Hang-seo’s team marched to the SEA Games 31 men’s football gold medal with a 1-0 victory over Thailand U23 in the final at My Dinh Stadium, but the contributions of Viet Tri Stadium to Vietnam U23’s success that year remain a memorable highlight for the fans.
In September 2023, Viet Tri once again played a vital role for Vietnam U23 in the AFC U23 Championship qualifiers. Under Coach Philippe Troussier, the team beat Guam U23 (6-0) and Yemen U23 (1-0), and drew with Singapore U23 (2-2) to secure a spot in the final round. Vietnam U23 was even the first team to qualify for the final round (excluding the host country, Qatar).
In October, Vietnam U17 also earned a spot in the AFC U17 Championship 2024 qualifiers after three matches at Viet Tri Stadium.
Overall, Vietnam’s national teams—U23 and U17—have played at their “home” in Viet Tri. The common thread is that all the teams remain unbeaten and have achieved their goals. The positive vibes from this “home ground” are expected to give the Vietnam national team a boost at ASEAN Cup 2024.
All 20,000 tickets for the match between Vietnam and Indonesia (15/12, 20:00) have been sold out. Tickets for the Vietnam vs. Myanmar match (21/12, 20:00) are also expected to be in high demand, as a testament to the love and support from the fans in Phu Tho and across Vietnam for the national team.
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