Football

Coach Phan Trần Tuấn Anh (left) talks with his player during the hosts' training in preparation for the first international seven-a-side football tournament on December 23-25 in Hà Nội. — Photo of VIetfootball

HÀ NỘI — An international seven-a-side (seven players a side and playing outdoors) football tournament will be held in Việt Nam for the first time on December 23-25 in Hà Nội.

The tournament, the first of its kind in the country, is known as the Bia Saigon Cup 2022. It will feature four teams: Ghost Gate (Thailand), Jcorp Data Sukan (Malaysia), Deltras (Indonesia) and a selected team of Việt Nam.

Teams will compete in a round-robin format to find out the most successful one.

Following a draw, Ghost Gate will play Deltras in the opening match today at the Hoàng Mai District Stadium in Hà Nội. Việt Nam will host Jcorp Data Sukan in the second match at the same venue.

The winner will walk away with gold and US$5,000. The runners-up will receive $3,000 and $2,000, respectively.

Organisers will also present awards to the fair-play team, best scorer, best goalkeeper, best coach, MVP of each match and MVP of the tournament.

All matches will be live aired on the Việt Nam Television Cable Corporation (VTVcab)'s channels and platforms.

"Our recent local seven-a-side tournament was a successful event that received strong support from both football officials and fans. It is the key point pushing us to organise this first international competition and hopefully makes it an annual event," said Phạm Ngọc Tuấn, head of the orgnising committee.

"Our aim is to introduce Việt Nam's unique football model to the region and further to the continental level," General Director of Vietfootball Tuấn said.

Vietfootball takes charge of the overall organising activities of both local and international seven-a-side tournaments.

Speaking at the announcing ceremony, Bennett Neo, general director of Sabeco, the main sponsor, said Bia Saigon was proud to support the development of Việt Nam football as a role of the main sponsor of the Bia Saigon Cup 2022.

Sabeco was pleased to go alongside Vietfootball in strengthening and improving the new model of the seven-a-side football style.

Neo said it was a great way to support the development of Việt Nam's football talents.

Speaking at the event, Nguyễn Hồng Minh, deputy director of the Việt Nam Sports Administration, said he was happy to see the launch of the first international seven-a-side tournament in Việt Nam.

He said Vietfootball's way of establishing, managing, and organising the special football style was great, contributing to the growth of the national football movement.

He hoped that all parties involved in this event would continue their great effort to make seven-a-side football become an official event in the national competition system. In the near future, there will be an official national championship.

Việt Nam VSC-S2 champions Mobi FC contribute seven players for the Việt Nam Team at the international seven-a-side football tournament. — Photo of Vietfootball

Deltras were established in 1989 and are a professional football club. They play in the Liga 2. Over more than 30 years, the club have grabbed remarkable results including third place at the Copa Dji Sam Soe in 2008 and a second position in the Liga 1 in 2009.

Jorp Data Sukan are one of the oldest with a huge collection of achievements in Malaysia's futsal. Born in 1972, the team have won FAM Cup, two Malaysia Premier League titles, and a silver from the GEMAPUTERA Perlis and Selangor. They finished fifth in the Johor Bahru Futsal Tournament in 2022 and were in the top eight of the domestic Futsal Cup.

Ghost Gate were established as a seven-a-side in 2018 in Chiang Mai. They play in the Thai amateur tournament.

Both Thailand and Indonesia representatives appreciated Việt Nam's football at all levels, especially the seven-a-side, because it has strongly developed in Việt Nam, much more than in their countries.

Việt Nam considers the international tournament an important event. The best 20 players from the recent tournaments, the National Championship (VPL) and the National Cup (VSC), have been called to compete in the event.

Many of them are from Mobi FC from Hà Nội which won the VSC-S2 last weekend and Đạt Tín, champions of the VPL-S3 in September.

Among them, Nguyễn Đăng Thao is the best goalkeeper of the National Seven-a-side Football Tournament (VPL-S3), midfielder Nguyễn Văn Hạnh, the most valuable player of the VPL-S2 and Trần Tuyên, MVP of the National Futsal Cup.

The team is under coach Phan Trần Tuấn Anh, head coach of Sài Gòn Futsal Club which won the National Futsal Cup last month.

The organisers announced two prices of VNĐ40,000 and VNĐ80,000 for a ticket at the tournament. It is the first time in its 10 years of development, Vietfootball decided to sell tickets at an amateur tournament.

Organisers said it was partly to lift up the value of grassroots football in the community while it was also a way to ensure security for the matches.

In the VSC-S2 final, a record number of supporters came to the stadium. Many others could not get in the field, so they climbed on the trees and the roofs of surrounding houses to watch the game. — VNS