Nothing raises more jubilation than a hard fought victory.
The conservative attitudes of the Vietnamese nation were thrown out the window
last night following their dramatic victory over Thailand in the AFF Suzuki Cup.
What followed were scenes of insanity. Traffic stopped and nationals clustered
together bottlenecking all the roads downtown.
I happened to be standing in the backpacker area at the edge
of District 1. After watching Vietnam’s 90th minute equalizer go in
on the TV in a restaurant little could I expect the drama that unfolded. The
table service went up shit creek, with several platters of unordered meat lain
in front of me. The staff literally went berserk pressing each other’s heads to
their sweaty bosoms. Guests were forgotten about for a short period whilst
quite understandably they savored the greatest sporting moment in the country’s
history.
Having been unable to beat Thailand for fifty years, their
victory and crowning as champions brought sheer ecstasy to millions of people.
Foreigners even got in on the action, bedecking themselves with red flags,
headbands and t-shirts and jumping up and down in the arms of their new adopted
nation. The chaos endured late into the night with revelers speeding around on
motorbikes sounding horns, waving flags and spraying water everywhere.
Kevin Keegan once commented on England’s legendary 4-1
victory over the Netherlands in Euro 96’ ‘anyone watching who fell asleep
before half time must think they’ve died and gone to heaven’. Such words could
never have been more fitting for the occasion. Deep in the midst of the salty
air and red tinged night, unaware foreigners arrived with bags and cases
fearing a Communist uprising. With people clambering on cars, banging metal
pots and pans and breaking into spontaneous dancing, the scene looked more
surreal than threatening. Victory is sweet indeed.
