President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent their congratulations to Vietnam’s U23 football team following their 1-0 win over Thailand to earn their AFF Youth Championship title on February 26.

Though many players ­contracted COVID-19 and most of them were new to the team, they all showed the Vietnamese courage and will and fought as brave warriors, President Phuc said in his message, adding they deserve the championship.

He asked the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to continue developing the younger generations of players, helping Vietnam gain a higher position in the international stage

In his message, PM Chinh called it a prideworthy victory. The players have confronted numerous challenges due to the pandemic during the tournament, the PM noted, stressing that with the courage and bravery of Vietnamese and spirit of “golden star warriors”, the players and the coaches have surmounted all these to bring joy and pride to their homeland.

The victory offers a new spark of hope for Vietnam’s football in the future, he continued and wished them greater victories in the coming time.

It was a remarkable journey for Vietnam’s U23 football team at the AFF Youth Championship 2022 in Cambodia as they have not lost any match in the tournament, scoring nine goals in total and managing to keep their net intact.

The team was in dire shortage of players after many players tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and reinforcements had to be called in./.