Football

Captain Đỗ Duy Mạnh family on the Việt Trì stand on Thursday. They are offered free flight to Bangkok to support the national team in the final of the ASEAN Cup on Saturday. — Photo Cafe F

HÀ NỘI — Families of Vietnamese national team players will arrive in Bangkok for free to support their husbands and sons in the second leg of the ASEAN Cup final on Sunday.

SHB Bank has arranged for two charter flights to bring all players' families and the bank's loyal customers to Thailand as a gesture of support for the team in this decisive match.

After their 2-1 victory in the first leg match on Thursday, Việt Nam only need a draw at the Rajamangala Stadium to secure their third regional championship title.

In addition to the flights, the players' families and loyal customers are also receiving free tickets, meals, accommodations, and travel during their stay.

According to an SHB Bank representative, their presence is expected to provide strong motivation, boosting the players' confidence and determination to win the championship trophy on away ground.

Soldout tours to Thailand

After Việt Nam's first leg win, travel agencies quickly sold out tours to Thailand to watch the second leg.

Nguyễn Phương Trà My of Vietrend Travel mentioned that Thai football tours ranged from VNĐ10.9 to 14.9 million for different routes. The 2-day, 1-night tour, departing from Hà Nội and HCM City, included round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations, meals, and a football ticket.

"Some of our tour routes to Thailand to support the football match were fully booked on the night of January 2 (Thursday). Many customers were still asking to buy tickets," said My.

"Perhaps witnessing the national team winning the championship in another country is a rare experience. This has encouraged many customers to open their wallets. Furthermore, the tour schedule of just 2 days and 1 night on the weekend makes it easy for many people to arrange their work commitments."

Nguyễn Nguyệt Vân Khanh of Vietravel stated, "We recorded a sudden increase in the number of tourists interested in tours combined with watching football in Thailand. As of the morning of Friday, we had received more than 900 guests."

Vietnamese supporters seenin the first leg of the ASEAN Cup final. Many of them have booked tours to Thailand for the second leg match on January 5. — VNA/VNS Photos

She mentioned that the company would open more slots in the next two days to bring the total number of guests to over 1,000.

Meanwhile, Du Lịch Việt Company also received numerous messages and calls inquiring about tours to Thailand following the January 2 victory.

"The number of interested visitors continued to increase sharply, quickly filling our tour plans. Currently, we are only accepting reservations. It is expected that we will open 100 more seats for sale if we can secure more tickets," said Phạm Anh Vũ, Deputy General Director of Du Lịch Việt.

Trần Phương Linh from BenThanh Tourist said: "The price of a football tour is 1.5 to 2 times higher than a normal one but after the Vietnamese win on January 2, the demand for tour bookings has increased significantly."

The company still received requests from customers and would close their tour bookings soon.

Apart from tours, many supporters would travel to Thailand by themselves.

Businessman Hải Lâm from HCM City was too busy during the end of the year time. He just decided in the last minutes and bought ticket on Saturday.

The price was much about two times more expensive than usual but he said it was deserved for such an important game.

"I fly on Saturday night and return home early on Monday so that I could get to work on time. I really hope the Việt Nam will lift the championship trophy in Thailand," he said.

Hanoian Hoàng Hữu Lợi and his friend Nam Thịnh said they booked tickets and would fly on Saturday.

Vietnamese fans watch the final first leg in a cafe. A big screen will be set up at the Rajamangala to serve people's demand.

They would spend around VNĐ15 million for the trip, but their big worry was not being able to buy a match ticket, as there were only 3,000 tickets for Vietnamese supporters—much lower than the demand.

Thịnh said he had asked his friends in Thailand for help but had failed. It was an urgent situation, so he would fly first and try to find tickets later, even if it meant paying ten times the original price.

Facing the increasing demand for tickets, which isn't enough for everyone, the Football Association of Thailand will place a large screen in front of the stadium to allow supporters to watch the match.

Lợi and Thịnh also decided that if they couldn't enter the stadium, they would cheer for Việt Nam from outside. — VNS