Thailand held to 2-2 draw by Laos; Indonesia thrash Malaysia 5-1

Calisto makes his 22-man Vietnamese squad

Indonesia's Arif Suyono (R) celebrates after scoring as Malaysian goalkeeper Mohd Sharbinee looks on during their qualifying round match at the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2010 soccer tournament in Jakarta on Wednesday - Photo: Reuters

HCMC – Thailand were held to a 2-2 draw by underdog Laos in their opener at the Southeast Asian championship/AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday while hosts Indonesia thrashed Malaysia 5-1 in a later game.

Thailand dominated ball possession throughout the first half while the Lao side relied on rare counter attacks. Thailand had some better scoring opportunities in the first minutes of the half but the Lao side defense resiliently held out to keep a clean sheet.

The second half was a different story, Laos surprisingly took an advance in the 53rd minute when Inthammavong scored for his team with a header in a rapid attack. However, Sarayoot Chaikamdee leveled for the Thai side in the 68th minute.

Laos increased pressure after the goal and Sysomvang easily defeated Thai goalie Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool in the 82nd minute with an unstoppable kick beside the penalty box before Sarayoot scored his second goal for Thai side in the injury time, leaving the score at 2-2 upon the referee’s whistle at the end of the game.

Meanwhile, under heavy pressure from local fans, hosts Indonesia put their rivals under a lot of pressure, while the Malaysian team looked composed and confident throughout and caused the home team problems with their rare counter attacks.

Norshahrul Idlan Talaha opened the score for the Malaysian side in the 18th minute. However, the home side bounced back from the loss, Hamzani Omar equalized just three minutes later and Gonzales helped the home side advance in the 33rd minute.

The Indonesian players had the most possession over the second half and managed to create dozens of chances. Ridwan netted for his team in the 52nd minute and Arif Suyono contributed the fourth goal in the 76th minute before Bachdim finalized the game at 5-1 in the 90th minute.

Group A matches resume in Indonesia on Saturday with Thailand facing Malaysia at 5:00 p.m. and Indonesia against Laos at 7:30 p.m.

* Vietnam head coach Henrique Calisto just named a 22member squad for the AFF Cup on Wednesday, just one day before meeting Myanmar in their opener. The last players withdrawn were defender Nguyen Minh Duc, who suffered injury, veteran midfielder Tran Duy Quang and inexperienced midfielder Nguyen Ngoc Dieu.

Striker Nguyen Viet Thang, who has recovered from a minor injury in the friendly game against Singapore, remained doubtful for the games in the qualifying round while defender Huynh Quang Thanh was called back to full training.

Vietnam’s national team suffered a big loss this year as star striker Le Cong Vinh missed out because of knee injury. Earlier, former striker Pham Van Quyen has lost his chance with the national squad because of injury and halfback Mai Tien Thanh also left the national team due to injury.

Calisto faces some difficult problems in the attacking options as first-choice strikers Nguyen Viet Thang and Nguyen Anh Duc but Le Sy Manh seems to need more experience in big tournaments and perform better as a substitute.

Though many key Vietnamese footballers have suffered injury, coach Calisto has predicted his team will make a good result in its group for one of the two tickets to the semi-finals. However, the Vietnamese coach has warned his men not to underestimate Myanmar in their opener.

On Thursday, Vietnam will meet Myanmar at My Dinh National Stadium at 7:30 p.m. while Singapore will face the Philippines at 5:00 p.m. at the same venue.

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Ticket sales poor for AFF Cup opener

Yawn: Tickets are sold for the ASEAN Football Championship at Ha Noi's Hang Day Stadium. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Truong

HA NOI — Vietnamese fans have been slow to buy tickets for the opening match of the ASEAN Football Federation AFF-Suzuki Cup tomorrow between Viet Nam and Myanmar.

Outlets at Ha Noi's My Dinh and Hang Day stadia sold just 2,500 tickets in three hours on Monday for Group B matches, with demand failing to reach the heights of two years ago when Viet Nam hosted the semi-finals and final.

Most fans asked tickets for the match between Viet Nam and Singapore on December 8, the most anticipated game in the group.

However, most Vietnamese football lovers are waiting for the result of the first game before paying for tickets for the following matches.

"As usual, fans are leaving it late, just one day before the opening match begins. However, what they really want are tickets to the last match in the group between Viet Nam and Singapore," said a ticket buyer, Ngoc Cuong.

"If Viet Nam beat Myanmar, people will rush for tickets," Cuong speculated.

In front of Hang Day Stadium, on Trinh Hoai Duc Street, dozens of touts are offering tickets from VND100,000-VND200,000, just VND20,000 higher than face value.

The AFF has also released ticket prices for the matches between Viet Nam and Singapore and Myanmar and the Philippines from VND50,000-VND150,000 (US$2.5-$7.5) because the two games will take place at the same time at Ha Noi's My Dinh Stadium and Nam Dinh's Thien Truong Stadium on December 8.

"I'll buy my ticket on Wednesday a few hours before the opening match kicks off. It's easy to buy tickets at the moment. Myanmar are not actually as tough as Singapore," said Do Son, a buyer at Hang Day Stadium.

He also said when Thailand play in the same group as Viet Nam, tickets sold like hot cakes because Vietnamese fans loved watching games between the two arch-rivals.

According to Viet Nam Football Development JSC, a ticket distributor, 40,000 tickets have been allocated for each match in Group B that fans can easily pick up from five distributors in Ha Noi. My Dinh and Hang Day are the most popular stadiums among Vietnamese fans, accounting for 40 per cent of the total tickets sold.

Only 25 per cent of tickets have been bought via the internet or message system.

Tickets can be purchased at www.aleale.com.vn.

For the final match between Viet Nam and Thailand two years ago, Vietnamese fans had to fork over up to VND3 million (US$150) to ticket touts – a significant increase on the face value of VND80,000 ($4). — VNS

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Coach fears about fitness at Southeast Asian champs

Coach Henrique Calisto

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnamese football coach Henrique Calisto told Tuoi Tre the team are not at their physical peak for the AFF Suzuki Cup that kicks off December 1.

“The recipe for a team to succeed includes three things – unity, quality, and motivation,” the Portuguese-born coach said ahead of the Southeast Asian Football Championship to be held in Vietnam and Indonesia until December 29.

Vietnam are now behind Thailand and Singapore in terms of these criteria, he said.

He pointed to the Asian Games in Guangzhou this month, saying the Vietnamese, except for goalie Tan Truong and striker Anh Duc, were smaller than the smallest player in the Iranian team who were themselves only average-sized for Asia.

Vietnam were eliminated in the group stage at the competition.

Nevertheless, Vietnam have not chosen any of their four naturalized foreign players while Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines have been doing so for a long time.

The non-selection of the foreign players, who are physically superior to the Vietnamese, is a weakness, Calisto said.

Among other problems for the team is the poor surface at Hanoi’s My Dinh national stadium where they will play in group B, he said. Since Vietnam play a short passing game, they will find the bumpy surface unsuitable, he explained.

Singapore, who traditionally play long balls, will benefit, he added.

As of today, tuoitrenews will cover up-to-date information about the AFF Suzuki Cup, available here

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Pianists to compete at Chopin tourney in Singapore

Eight young Vietnamese pianists will be competing against 140 others at
the First International Chopin Piano tournament from Dec.1-5 in
Singapore .

The competition, which commemorates
the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth, is being organised by the
Chopin Society ( Singapore ) and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

The Vietnamese pianists, who are aged between 10 to 16, will be competing in four of five categories.

Do Hoang Linh Chi, 13, and Hoang Ho Thu, 15, have a lot of experience
of international competition, said Ta Quang Dong, a lecturer at the
Vietnam National Academy of Music, who will be accompanying the
competitors.

"The contestants can decide for
themselves which Chopin pieces they wish to play. The Hanoi
International Piano Contest that was held last September helped the
contestants enrich their Chopin repertoire," Dong said.

"The competition is being organised for the first time. It is prestigious though because of the calibre judges."

The judging panel consists of Gabriel Kwok, who has been head of
Keyboard Studies at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts since
1989; Francesco Nicolosi, who is one of the most distinguished pianists
of the Italian tradition; Snezana Panovska, a highly acclaimed piano
professor, who stems from the Republic of Macedonia; Wojciech Switata, a
professor at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice; and
Warren Thompson, head of the School of Extension Studies at Sydney
Conservatorium./.

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Vietnam film wins in Stockholm

Director Phan Dang Di's first movie, Bi, Dung So! (Bi, Don't Be Afraid),
has won Best First Feature at the 21st Stockholm International Film
Festival.

His senior cameraman, Pham Quang Minh, won
the award for best cinematography. Bi, Dung So! also won best
screenplay during the Cannes film festival's critics week, as well
as the new talent award at the Asia-Hong Kong Film Festival.

The film is scheduled to open at box offices in Vietnam next
month. It will be broadcast on TV network Arte Channel in France and
Germany .

The film narrates the story of a young
boy called Bi who lives with his mother, father and aunt in a house in
Hanoi . When Bi's grandfather, who has been absent for many years,
suddenly reappears, the family are once again reunited. However, his
return turns out to be far from auspicious. Bi's father begins to stay
out late, to the point where he stops coming home at all in what appears
to be a way of coming to turns with his own loneliness when his own
father was absent. Meanwhile, Bi's aunt falls in love with a young man
whom she meets on a bus, his father falls in love with a masseuse and
his mother behaves as if nothing has changed.

The
feature is much more than just a family drama. Director Di represents
the lost because he has no way to express complex emotions. The
photography borders on poetry and the interesting camera angles and the
fascinating film locations, combined with realistic dialogue, turn this
film into something extraordinary. Ordinary people become remarkable.
The life of the child is nothing short of enchanting, and viewers become
intimate witnesses of a family struggling to escape loneliness.

Holly Hunter, who starred in The Piano, headed the jury panel, said
she was amazed by power of the scenes and thought the film compelling.

Meanwhile, cameraman Minh's photography was described
as poetic and dignified in its simplicity and subtle technical
perfection.

The 12-day Stockholm Festival, which
ended on Nov. 28, was launched in 1990. It has become one of the leading
film events in Europe . The festival takes place every November and
typically features about 180 films from more than 50 countries./.

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Festival honours buffalo boys

A unique folk festival celebrating the rural children who look after
buffalo has been revived near the central city of Da Nang for the
first time in nearly 75 years.

The festival, at
Phong Le village in Hoa Vang district's Hoa Chau commune, gathered 400
locals on Nov. 27-28 with traditional worship customs and folk games as
well as performances of tuong (classical drama).

According to local Ngo Van Nghia, this was the first time the festival had been held since 1936.

"The festival not only praises the buffalo children but also
celebrates the solidarity of all the working people in the village and
wishes for a lucky harvest and wealth for everyone," Nghia said.

"The festival used to be held every three years," said researcher Van
Thu Bich from the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism who
was the head of the festival preservation team and vows that it has been
re-created exactly the same as the original.

"We
will now try our best to hold it every two years in order to preserve
the local intangible cultural heritage as well as create a tourism
product for tourists visiting Da Nang ."

For the
revived festival, the village was lit up on Nov. 27 with hundreds of
lanterns and models of agricultural tools hanging all over the village.
Early morning on Nov. 28, a procession of the 60 buffalo children
travelled around the fields of the village, calling out wishes for a
good harvest and creating a atmosphere full of cheer and loud laughter.
They then participated in folk games like tug-of-war and catching ducks
while blindfolded.

They were chosen from 17 clans in
the village to take the central roles in various ceremonies at the
festival, such as a procession bearing a likeness of the god of
agriculture from a holy islet in the village called Con Than to the
village's communal house.

Legend holds that ducks
were unable to move their feet off the land when they reached the islet,
so the locals were afraid to visit it. One day, a herd of buffalo
strayed to the islet and local buffaloes boys brought them back safely.
Since then, the islet has been a popular place for buffalo children in
the village to gather, and the legend became the centrepiece of a
special festival for the children./.

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Photo exhibition on Hanoi opens in France

Fifty-five photos on Hanoi taken by contemporary French photographers
and a documentary photo are on display at an exhibition which opened at
the Gustave Courbet Primary School in Romainville city, 15 km
east of Paris , on Nov. 29.

The showcased photos
depict the ancient Hanoi capital; Hanoi and the hallmarks of the
colonist period; the city in war; and Hanoi and its young
generations.

The exhibition uses the logo of Khue
Van Pavilion by Pham Ngoc Tuan, who took part in a contest to create
logos marking the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Becta, a history teacher at the Gustave Courbet Primary School
and coordinator of the cooperation project between his school and the
Tran Phu School in Hai Phong city, said this was a good chance for
him to introduce the image of Hanoi-Vietnam to his colleagues and
students as well as those who want to visit Vietnam .

According to the Gustave Courbet school’s rector, Olivier Catayee, the
exhibition, is part of a partnership cooperation programme on education
between Vietnam and France with the first project linking the
Gustave Courbet Primary School and the Tran Phu School for
Gifted Students in April 2010.

It is also the focus
of a UNESCO master plan on culture between Vietnam and France ,
which aims to strengthen cultural exchanges and discover heritages of
the two countries.

Under the project, in April 2011,
24 students of the French school will come to Vietnam to exchange
with their peers at the Tran Phu School and two months later, 25
students of the Hai Phong-based school will leave for France to meet
Gustave Courbet friends./.

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