Fans brave foul weather for Cup tickets

Eager anticipation: Football fans queuing for the ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup tickets at My Dinh National Stadium in Ha Noi. — VNA/VNS Photo Quy Trung

HA NOI — Despite cold weather and a 2-0 loss to Malaysia in the first leg semi-final of the ASEAN Football Championship on Wednesday, thousands of Vietnamese fans lined up at My Dinh National Stadium yesterday to buy tickets for the second leg match tomorrow.

A line of hundreds of metres had queued up at the stadium by 7am, nearly two hours before tickets were to go on sale at 8.30am.

The first leg loss left a tall order for Viet Nam in the return match, but over 1,200 organisations have also registered to buy at least 165,000 tickets, over four times the stadium capacity.

A fan named Minh, who got the first ticket, said he had arrived at 4am but still had to purchase a ticket for a seat behind the goal line.

"I just bought an uncomfortable seat, but I'm still lucky," Minh said. "I just hope that Viet Nam can overturn the first-leg loss."

Security was tight at the stadium, so chaos would not erupt among the queuing fans.

Due to the high demand, fans were only allowed to buy two tickets, with prices starting from VND100,000 (US$5). Only a few were able to buy grandstand tickets, at prices of VND200-400,000 ($10-20). Just one hour after ticket sales ended, touters were offering some of the same seats at VND1.3 million ($68).

Witnessing the crowd of touts, fan Nguyen Van Hung said, "I'll watch the match on TV as I did two years ago. I don't want to waste time and money for touted tickets."

Viet Nam must win at least 3-0 in the second leg match tomorrow to secure a final berth, while a 2-0 win would mean that Viet Nam and Malaysia play extra time. — VNS

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Malaysia beat Vietnam 2-0 in AFF’s first leg semifinals

Malaysia's Safee Sali (front) celebrates scoring their first goal against Vietnam during their semi-final first leg match of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) 2010 soccer tournament in Kuala Lumpur 0n Wednesday - Photo: Reuters

HCMC – Defending champions Vietnam face a difficult task to advance to the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 after losing 0-2 to Malaysia their first leg semifinals at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday.

Safee Sali scored both goals for the home side in the second half. The Malaysian striker twice beat Vietnam goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong with a header in the 60th minute and an unstoppable kick in penalty area in the 79th minute.

At the pre-match press conference, Vietnam’s coach Henrique Calisto and Malaysia’s coach K. Rajagobal both expressed their strong winning determinations on the threshold of the crucial clash between the two sides.

Vietnam began the game without two defenders, Doan Viet Cuong and Huynh Quang Thanh, and midfielder Phan Van Tai Em, due to injuries, while midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang, who had scored two goals, had been given a red card in the game against Singapore last Wednesday.

Vietnam’s coach Calisto made some changes with defenders Nguyen Huy Hoang and Tran Dinh Dong coming for Doan Viet Cuong and Huynh Quang Thanh. Midfielder Le Tan Tai replaced Phan Van Tai Em while midfielder Nguyen Thanh Hung made his debut from the beginning.

Though backed by the enthusiastic support from Malaysian spectators, Vietnamese players began in high spirit and were very confident from the beginning. Coach Calisto’s players were on the attack from the start of the game in search for a goal in the first minutes while Malaysia relied on rare counter attacks.

Calisto made a change in the second half when midfielder Nguyen Minh Chau replaced Phan Thanh Hung. The visitors continuously dominated the ball possession in the first minutes of the second half, however, the Vietnamese forwarders wasted their scoring chances.

Vietnam goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong, who was a hero as he denied all Singapore shots and headers with several brilliant saves in the final game in group stage, made a serious mistake in the game when the goalkeeper let Safee Sali’s header slip through his hands and into the net in the 60th minute.

Safee Sali doubled for the Malaysian side in the 79th minute as the striker netted in the penalty box after goalie Bui Tan Truong saved the ball from captain Safiq Rahim’s kick. 

Though striker Nguyen Viet Thang, a first-choice striker of coach Calisto, and midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai replaced Le Tan Tai and Pham Thanh Luong in the last minutes. Vietnamese players created some scoring chances in the last minutes but their players also lost all the chances, leaving the score at 2-0 upon the referee’s whistle at the end of the game.

With the home win, Malaysia moved closer to reaching the 2010 ASEAN Football Federation Cup, also called AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 final. The Malaysian side even suffer a 1-0 loss in the second leg of the semifinals in Hanoi on Saturday enough to qualify the final game.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese side need to win in the second clash with the score at least 2-0 in their home ground on Saturday to keep their hope of reaching the final of the biennial tournament.

The other semi-final game between host Indonesia and the Philippines will be played on Thursday and Sunday at the Geloga Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

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Return to Vietnam a relief for US poet

US veteran and poet Bruce Weigl sees his return to Vietnam this time
as a way of helping to relieve his bad memories of the war.

Talking about his visit to the central province of Quang Tri 42
years after leaving Vietnam in 1968, Weigl said the country’s
revival, the unimaginable changes and images of crowded streets and
peaceful fields on this visit have helped him to come to terms with his
haunting memories of a war-torn land.

He also said
that he would come to this land again, as if he was coming back to his
home. He said he first returned to Vietnam in 1985 and since then
had returned 12 times, but had never visited the Quang Tri battlefield
as his Vietnam war memoirs were still torturing him.

According to Weigl, he had even been to Hue several times, only 30km
from Quang Tri territory, but dared not continue to the places where he
saw his friends dying 40 years ago, since these memories were still too
raw. He said he was afraid of seeing the hills, the fields and the
rivers in the former battlefield.

After the war, Weigl
started searching documents in archives, to learn about the Vietnamese
soldiers, and he discovered these so-called “foes” loved and wrote
poetry. From 1979, Weigl began writing poetry as a way of redemption
from his war obsessions and traumas.

From old
notebooks of soldiers on the other side of the frontline, he and his
friends selected and translated poems into English to help Americans see
another side of the past war. Later, his own poetry would turn him into
a big name in US literature.

Weigl used to be a
professor in famous universities such as Arkansas , Old Dominion and
Penn State , and now is an honorary professor in arts and human
culture of the Lorain Country Community College in Ohio city.

He made many contributions to healing relations
between Vietnam and the US after the war. As with many other
soldiers fighting in the Vietnam war, he was affected by Agent Orange
and now is suffering from cancer.

During his visit to
Vietnam, Weigl will take part in a poetry night called ‘Returning to my
Vietnamese home’ and on Dec. 16 launch his poetical memoir, “After the
Rain Stopped Pounding”, which has been translated into Vietnamese by
Nguyen Phan Que Mai and published by the Youth Publishing House./.

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Finnish artist fashions playful works in metal

A playful exhibition by Finnish artist Maritta Nurmi entitled After the
End of Art Anything Goes, has opened at Art Vietnam Gallery in Hanoi.

Nurmi, a visual artist born in Finland, has been based in Hanoi since
1994 and is well-known for her installation art. Nurmi's background both
in art and in natural sciences, together with her experience of Asia,
lends her work a multilayered and multicultural feel.

The artist is famed for her richly detailed work in silver, aluminium
and copper leaf on canvas. In this playful exhibition, that combines art
and fashion, she has managed to add text to textile to accentuate her
works' effervescent surfaces.

Freed from the
constraints of making art as it is currently known, Nurmi explores all
sorts of media and objects, elevating the everyday and mundane into what
we may call the zone of the sublime.

Large round
aluminium trays used for steaming rice are suddenly transformed into
whirlpools of flora and line; small wooden stools, playfully patterned,
spring from the floor to the wall, while their corresponding tea tables
are transformed into colourful, functional artworks.

Stainless steel work tables are essays in structure and line; dragons
and Buddhas appear faintly in their mirrored surfaces, transporting the
object and the viewer into a fanciful world.

Nurmi
uses images of roses and repeats them many times in her artworks. "Rose
means everything," she explains. "I love roses and I think people do."

In the midst of all the playfulness, Nurmi takes her
ideas into yet another dimension. Inspired by the colourful textiles of
the people of Benin, in West Africa, where she was an artist in
residence in 2009, she had fabrics of her artworks made in India, which
she then transformed into her own eclectic mode of fashion – Couture
Adorable de Maritta.

Stripes and circles, angles and
lines, colour and pattern all collide into a splendid kaleidoscope of
fun and frolic, a true testimony to the function of art as art and art
as function wherein "anything goes."

"Nurmi's artworks really surprise and attract me," says Pham Trung, lecturer at the Vietnam Fine Arts University.

"She is an artist of liberalism. She breaks all old orders to create
the art of her own. However, she is influenced by Eastern philosophy and
Zen Buddhism. She stands at the border of many cultures."

Nurmi has exhibited her works in many countries including Finland, Germany, the UK, the US, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The exhibition will run until January 7 at Art Vietnam Gallery, 7 Nguyen Khac Nhu street, Hanoi./.

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Calisto not too perturbed by 2-0 loss to Malaysia

Vietnam football coach Henrique Calisto

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnamese coach Henrique Calisto has not lost hope despite his team’s 2-0 defeat to Malaysia in the first-leg semifinal of the Suzuki Cup Wednesday.

He said in Kuala Lumpur the team did not play their normal game and were unable to control the midfield, he told the media after the loss.

Do you think Vietnam can advance after the 2-0 defeat?

[A score of] 2-1 or 1-0 would have reflected the true situation. If we had scored, it would be much easier. It is very difficult now because Vietnam have to score three goals or more [in the second-leg match at My Dinh Stadium] to eliminate Malaysia.

If they can score two goals against us, we can score two goals in Hanoi. We must believe, but it will not be easy. If my key players recover from injuries, I will play them in the second leg.

What do you think about the referee?

He sometimes failed to control the game well. But we don’t blame him for our defeat. We made some crucial mistakes and gave away two goals. This is a game. So, it is normal for goalkeepers to make mistakes. This is life.

Were you surprised by Malaysia’s performance?

No. They were well organized and have good players.

Coach Mai Duc Chung:Vietnam will advance  Vietnam played very well in the first half. Midfielders Minh Phuong, Thanh Luong, and Vu Phong controlled the ball skillfully and made precise passes. Though we had more scoring opportunities, I regret we could not find a goal. Malaysia were lukewarm and did not create many chances.  If we could have controlled the match better in the second half, we could have won. However, the turning point of the match was the crucial error by goalkeeper Tan Truong. He did not remain focused and allowed Safee's header to go through his hands into the goal.   But that is life. After that, the hosts played long balls to take full advantage of the speed and strength of forwards Safid and Safee.    But I do believe that Vietnam can advance into the finals because we play the second leg at the My Dinh stadium where we trounced Myanmar 7-1. That will be a very big advantage.

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Malaysia beat Viet Nam 2-0 in AFF

Best foot forward: Midfielder Nguyen Vu Phong (right) attempts to get past a Malaysian defender in the team's semi-final first leg encounter of the ASEAN Football Championship, AFF-Suzuki Cup in Kuala Lumpar yesterday. Malaysia won 2-0. — VNA/VNS Photo Quoc Khanh

HA NOI — Striker Safee Sali's brace saw Malaysia beat Viet Nam 2-0 in the first leg of the ASEAN Football Championship AFF-Suzuki Cup semi-final yesterday.

The loss will mean defending champions Viet Nam will face a hard task in the second leg match at Ha Noi's My Dinh National Stadium on Saturday.

Although starting the game well in the first minutes, the Vietnamese side did little to trouble the well-organised Malaysian defence.

In the 15th minute, captain Minh Phuong launched a grass-skimming 25m rocket heading for the far corner, but Malaysian keeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat made a good save.

The hosts replied five minutes later when Safee's powerful header tested Vietnamese keeper Bui Tan Truong.

Midfielder Vu Phong closed the goalless first half time with a free kick in the 40th minute, which was pushed away by goalie Khairul.

After the break, Coach Henrique Calisto brought on midfielder Nguyen Minh Chau and striker Nguyen Viet Thang to try and force a goal; however, they failed to have much of an impact against Malaysia's well-organised team.

Safee gave Malaysia the lead in the 61st minute as his well-taken free kick beat Vietnamese keeper Truong.

Truong once again held some of the blame for the second Malaysian goal in the 80th minute.

Midfielder Safiq Bin Rahim in a rapid attack fired a 25m shot from the right hand edge of the penalty area, but despite Truong comfortably getting a hand to ball, the Vietnamese contrived to palm it out to a borderline off-side Safee who doubled his goals for the night with a nicely placed shot through the despairing Vietnamese keeper.

Despite Vietnam attempting to rally for the last 10 minutes of the match, sloppy passing and a lack of urgency meant they created few chances of note.

Indonesia will host the Philippines in the other semi-final in Jakarta today. — VNS

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Badminton player wins second Asian gold

HA NOI — Badminton player Pham Hoang Thang beat China's Tian Shiwei 21-19, 21-9 in the men's singles final to win gold at the Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China yesterday.

Earlier, Thang defeated Thailand's Meepian Subpong 2-1 in semi-final and Indian Dillashwar Rao 2-0 in quarter-final.

Wheelchair racer Nguyen Thanh Thao finished second in the women's 100m with a time in 20.16 seconds, two hundredth of a second faster than Chinese Zhou Hong Zhuan, who came third.

China's Hung Lisha won gold in 17.83sec.

Trinh Cong Luan, 38, took a silver in the men's shot-put with a 10.05m attempt in the cerebral palsy category yesterday.

Gold medal went to Iran's Bagheri Jeddi Jalil, who achieved a 10.89m put, while his team-mate Zqout Khamis came third.

Wheelchair badminton player Truong Ngoc Binh bagged a bronze medal after a 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) loss to Chan Ho Yuen from Hong Kong.

The 20-year-old Cao Ngoc Hung also ranked third for the bronze medal in the men's discuss yesterday.

On Tuesday, swimmer Vo Thanh Tung won a gold in the men's 50m freestyle. Viet Nam rank 11th in medal tally with two golds, two silvers and four bronzes after the third day of competition. — VNS

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