Vietnamese players celebrating Nguyễn Xuân Son's first goal for the country. Son's unlikely partnerships with the players around him was the catalyst for the victory on Saturday. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

Anh Đức

They did it – the Golden Star Warriors have qualified for the ASEAN Championship semifinals, but not in dominant fashion or with a dramatic ending. Instead, they have slowly and steadily reignited hope across the nation.

Kim Sang-sik's Việt Nam team ended the group stage with a goalless scoreline in all of their first halves, and as the writer for all of Việt Nam News' match reports, I am at a point between frustration and jubilation. I get to see the best 45 minutes football have to offer, but having to file in my article later than expected because the action and drama came late.

The prime example of this was the Việt Nam vs. Philippines match, where myself and my editors stayed at the headquarters until 11.30pm, as Việt Nam finally found an equaliser in the dying seconds of the match. The headline, the teasing paragraph – all changed after the screams of joy as Doãn Ngọc Tân's header rolled in.

But before that, I noticed there was an element of fear and doubt, that crept in the minds of fans everywhere on social media. Should Việt Nam lose that day, the result would not have been that significant since they still had self-determination in the final game.

But the loss, I believe, would hit the morale of Kim Sang-sik's squad considerably and bring about a big backlash from fans who held high hopes for the squad's success.

Attacks come in, shots were placed before Ngọc Tân's header, but none came to fruition due to Philippines' brave defending. For a long time, Vietnamese fans did not regard their team as a dominant and game-controlling team, but rather, always on the back foot despite the opponent.

During the dark days of the Philippe Troussier era, Việt Nam had control of the ball, but could not find a way to finish it. If Việt Nam concedes, they would concede again and again, a stark contrast to the Park Hang-seo era, with a never-give-up mentality.

Ngọc Tân's header gave hope again that Việt Nam is reclaiming that mentality again, that even when defeat is nearing, anyone in the team can step up and became the hero.

But one can always point to the fact that the equaliser had an element of fortune in it, that had it not been for Patrick Deyto's fumble, the ball might never have reached Tân in the first place.

Việt Nam needs more than these moments of luck, should they want to progress further and reclaim their throne. They need an idol, a beacon of hope that everybody can look up to.

Enter Brazilian-born Nguyễn Xuân Son, formerly known as Rafaelson. The newly-naturalised player brought a wind of change so desperately needed in the team and changed the team and the players around him in their match against Myanmar.

To say that Son carried Việt Nam in the match would not be true, despite him having had two goals and two assists. The more accurate interpretation would be, that his unlikely partnerships with the players around him was the catalyst for the victory on Saturday.

In his first clear opportunity, instead of taking all the glory to himself, Son chose to pass to his teammate, who squandered the chance. That is for me, an act that proved Son as a team player and not just a record-shattering goalscorer, which he was known for in the domestic league.

With the winning mentality reclaimed, and a new beacon of hope, success for Việt Nam in this tournament is not a fancy dream anymore, and the motorbike horns are ready once again, after two years of being silent. — VNS