U-22 football tourney win over Thailand a memorable birthday gift for Vietnam player

Dong Trieu stood smiling in the center of a circle of his teammates going around, all clapping their hands and singing “Happy Birthday” after their semifinal 1-0 victory over Thailand on Wednesday in Brunei.

Despite being suspended from the game with Thailand for having got two yellow cards in two previous consecutive games, Vietnamese central defender Dong Trieu experienced a memorable day in Brunei – both celebrating his 19th birthday and witnessing Vietnam edge past their ‘sworn enemies’ Thailand.

An ‘extra birthday gift’ his teammates gave him is the final match with Myanmar on August 23 at the 2014 Southeast Asian U-22 Football Championship, or Hassanal Bolkiah Cup.

Trieu said that he was jumping up and down celebrating after defender Le Van Son scored the only goal of the match following a free kick in the 71st minute.

“I am very happy with this amazing gift and I promise to play with my utmost efforts in the final to bring complete joy to our fans,” Trieu said.

Vietnam’s French coach Guillaume Graechen said, “Dong Trieu must be happy with this.

“I told my players to try to win Thailand to present it as a birthday gift to him. I’m happy that my team could do it.”

Football pundit Doan Minh Xuong commented, “The Vietnamese players have made great progress in recent months.

“But one goal was too few, compared to the chances they created during that clash.”

A Vietnamese fan wrote on his Facebook page, “Vietnam were always the underdogs when facing the Thais previously. Now it’s changed. The Vietnamese players confidently controlled the game, which caused their Thai arch-rivals to become angry and commit many fouls.”

Minh Dung, another local fan, wrote, “The Thai footballers always performed their kickboxing skills during the encounter with the Vietnamese.”

Both Thailand and Vietnam use under-19 players for this biennial U-22 football competition.

Myanmar defeated Malaysia 3-1 in the other semifinal the same day.

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