~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2001]

Vietnam's women football team fire first salvo

KUALA LUMPUR - Sounding like battle-hardened soldiers, Vietnam's women football team have declared that the SEA Games title is theirs for the taking. "We will win the gold medal, that's for sure. We are competing with teams only from this region," said coach Steve Darby. The players have undergone tough training and have excellent attitude, said Darby, who formerly coached Johor.

"I think it is a very reasonable target. We have beaten Singapore, Thailand and others in friendly matches and the girls are very confident that they could do it this time in Kuala Lumpur," he told Bernama Tuesay. Vietnam are in Group B with Indonesia and Singapore. Their opening match is against Indonesia tomorrow while on Friday they will meet Singapore. Darby said his players underwent training similar to that for the Vietnamese men's squad. "The girls are very patriotic. They will do anything they can to win the gold medal for their country," he said.

"My players never give up. They could be down by five goals but they can change the scoreline to 6-5." Darby said Vietnam's biggest rivals would be Myanmar. "The only team I've not seen is Indonesia. I don't have the slightest idea of how the team is," he said.

By Hisham Abdul Hamid - Bernama Malaysian News - September 4, 2001.


Vietnam looking forward to hosting 2003 SEA Games

KUALA LUMPUR - Sports-crazy Vietnam are waiting eagerly to host the 22nd SEA Games in 2003, the first ever by the country since the inception of the biennial games in 1959. "The people are waiting. It has been held many, many times but not once in Vietnam...so you should know how excited we are," said Minh Hung, the deputy president of the Ho Chi Minh City Sportswriters Club.

Minh, who is here to cover the 21st SEA Games, said peace and stability, the growing economy and strong government were the main reasons why the country and its people were looking forward to the Games. He said Vietnam, who are sending 407 athletes, were using the Kuala Lumpur Games as a stepping stone to prepare a formidable team for the 2003 Games. To meet the growing demand for sports news in Vietnam, about 80 print journalists from the country are coming here to cover the Games, their biggest ever media contingent for an overseas assignment.

The 10-day Games will officially open on Saturday but football kicked off a week early. He said there are about 20 daily and weekly newspapers in Vietnam as well as three television stations, with some of them providing sports news alone. Minh, a journalist for 20 years who is covering his fifth SEA Games, said his newspaper company, Saigon Giai Phong, is producing a special SEA Games edition daily from Sept 1 to 18. "People are very much interested in sports, especially football. In fact, if Vietnam wins a tournament, there will huge celebrations and these often end in tragedy due to road accidents," he said.

Minh said the country's national television station would be carrying 14 SEA Games football matches live, including the women's event. Asked on the preparations by the KL SEA Games Organising Committee, Minh said he was impressed with the facilities available here, especially for the media. "The Internet facilities are really good. Hopefully, we will have the same in 2003. It's a learning process for all of us...I am working and learning at the same time," he said.

By D. Arul Rajoo - Bernama Malaysian News - September 4, 2001.