The recently-concluded international tournament for former football stars in Nha Trang left good impression on the football supporter in the beach city with professional organization and quality and exciting matches.
The recently-concluded international tournament for former football stars in Nha Trang left good impression on the football supporter in the beach city with professional organization and quality and exciting matches.
Thanh Thanh Travel used to hold some tournaments for the former football players, but they were only the friendlies for the players who used to play football in Khanh Hoa. This was the first time Thanh Thanh Travel has organized a tournament at an international level, which was joined by the teams from Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, China, and Cambodia.
As reported by Tran Phuc Thao, Deputy Director of Thanh Thanh Trading and Tourist Co., Ltd., this tournament was approved by Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and Asian Football Confederation. Therefore, the organization was carried out carefully and professionally. As first, apart from the countries mentioned above, the tournament received registrations from Indonesia, Malaysia and some provinces of China. However, the organization committee decided to pick nine teams only in order to ensure the quality and appropriate timetable for the tournament.
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Vietnam had three representative teams at this tournament, which are the host A&T Nha Trang, S&A Saigon and team of former national football athletes. A&T Nha Trang played with the former outstanding athletes who used to play for Khanh Hoa team in the domestic tournaments. S&A Saigon had the former stars of Saigon Harbor and Ho Chi Minh City Police. Meanwhile, the team of former national football athletes comprises of the one-time golden generation of Vietnamese football: Van Sy Hung, Dang Phuong Nam, Hoa Manh Hung, Quach Ngoc Minh, and so on.
Among six international teams were two teams of Thailand (Thailand Port, SFA Thailand), two teams of China (Fujian, Guangzhou), one of South Korea, and one of Cambodia. VFF sent a delegation of V-League referees to watch the matches of this tournament.
A&T Nha Trang defeated Fujian 4-1; ThaiLand Port beat Vietnam 7-0. At the end of group stage, A&T Nha Trang and ThaiLand Port topped their group and then overcame Fujian and Guangzhou to qualify for the final.
In the final match on September 1, A&T Nha Trang with the one-time outstanding players of Khanh Hoa’s football like forward Dang Dao, and defender Nguyen Ty and goalkeeper Nguyen Duc Hung could not overcome ThaiLand Port which had the only and decisive goal to claim the championship.
Thanks to this tournament, the football supporters in Khanh Hoa could see the competitions between many former football stars of Vietnam and other countries. This was also helped Khanh Hoa to promote the province to more people over the world. Hopefully, after this successful organization, the sponsors will keep supporting to organize the tournament in the next years.
An Nhien
Translated by H.N
