Football drives them crazy
How foreign communities in HCM City watch World Cup matches
It was 1:30 p.m. on June 10, the time for the
beginning of the crucial Group D World Cup
encounter between South Korea and the U.S.
Thousands of kilometers away from the Daegu
stadium where the match was just kicked off,
football fans crowded the Central restaurant at
the Sun Wah Tower on Nguyen Hue Street,
HCM City.Most of the fans were, of course,
Koreans, Americans and Vietnamese. They
were all attentively watching the Fevernova ball
rolling on a huge TV screen. Since the first
World Cup match began, the television set was
put at the corner that gives the best view.
Young U.S. men and Korean girls formed the largest group. In the roar of
thousands of all-red Korean spectators from the TV, the Korean girls
sometimes screamed excitedly. On the contrary, the American visitors
stayed calm while eating their lunch, seemingly unaffected by the result of
the match. When U.S. midfielder Clint Mathis scored a goal into the
Korean net, Park San Hye, a Korean student at the International School in
HCM City, burst out into tears. Her American friends said sorry and tried to
console her.
What can be said about the scene? Well, many foreigners are as crazy
about football as their Vietnamese peers are!
Coincidentally, most matches at the first World Cup ever held in Asia take
place during working hours in Vietnam. That means a great number of
fans have to miss matches because they are at work. However, many
salaried people have managed to be in front of TVs when their favorite
matches begin. Le Dinh Duoc, manager of Caf‚ Central, also at the Sun
Wah Tower, says since the beginning of the World Cup, his caf‚ has been
full of customers in the afternoon-the time normally with fewer customers.
Doo Hyun Kim, sales director of
OneChang, a Korean textile
company, is having lunch with his
friend at Seoul House restaurant
on Ngo Duc Ke Street. He arrives
at the restaurant later than usual
to watch the 1:30 p.m. match. Kim
says he often comes to the New
World Hotel to watch the matches
because there are more viewers
and there he can bet for fun. "I've lost some since the World Cup began,"
Kim says, smiling. His Korean team has not lost hope to date, though.
Hyun Young Oh, manager of Diamond Cinema, an investment by Korean
Good Fellas, says although the love for football of his Korean
compatriots or the Japanese is strong, it is not comparable to that of the
Vietnamese. "Since the World Cup started, our revenue has dropped by
50%," he says. Opened month ago, Diamond Cinema receives about
1,200 moviegoers each day. But, these days, the turnout is only half the
figure. This situation may remain until the World Cup ends.
At the back-packer quarter on Pham Ngu Lao - Bui Vien streets, Western
young men, bare from waist up in the summer heat, paint their faces and
bodies before watching their teams play. During the match between
Germany and Saudi Arabia on June 1, each time their team scored,
German fans at a restaurant embraced waitresses to kiss them. The
score was 8-0!
On a working trip to Vietnam, Richard Caborn, British Minister for Sports,
attended a ceremony in HCM City to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In his speech made at the ceremony on
Monday, Minister Caborn took time to talk about football, and he was
applauded by the audience. At press time, he is flying to Japan to
encourage the English team before the match against Nigeria. England
would beat Nigeria, Caborn told reporters. "My secretary in London will
book a June 30 ticket flight for the final match," he says. England will have
a berth in the final match, he adds.
Football has penetrated such diplomatic events. During the Queen's
ceremony, U.S. Consul General in HCM City Emi Yamauchi tried to find
her Korean counterpart, Consul General Kim Kyung-Hun, to say that her
U.S. team was lucky when it tied with the Koreans.
Some consulates general in HCM City have changed their working time
so that staff members can watch World Cup matches. The French
Consulate General installed a big screen TV in its wide yard, and invited
French citizens and their friends to watch the matches of the French
squad.
By Lan Anh - The Saigon Time Weekly - June 15, 2002.
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