Southeast Asia Newspaper: "The attraction of the match between Vietnam and Singapore is too great"

(Dan Tri) - Southeast Asian media was quite surprised by the attraction of the match between Vietnam and Singapore in the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2024. Surprisingly, tickets were not only "sold out" in Vietnam, but also "hot" in Singapore.

Singapore is not a country that is very fond of football, but there was still a fever for tickets for the first leg of the semi-final between Singapore and the Vietnamese team. This match took place at Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore, at 8pm on December 26. Four days before this match took place, tickets at Jalan Beasar Stadium were sold out. Thai newspaper Siam Sport commented: "Singapore fans are hunting for tickets for the semi-final match. The Singapore Football Federation announced that all tickets for the first leg of the semi-final match between the Lion Island team and the Vietnamese team have been sold out."

Báo Đông Nam Á: Sức hút trận đấu đội tuyển Việt Nam gặp Singapore quá lớn - 1 — Singaporean newspapers commented that the football atmosphere in the lion island is heating up again like it was a few decades ago (Photo: FAS).

"The Singapore team will use Jalan Besar Stadium as their home ground for this match. This is a football stadium with a capacity of 6,000 seats. The reason Singapore uses Jalan Besar Stadium as their home ground is because their national stadium is rented to hold a concert," Siam Sport added. For the first time since the 2008 AFF Cup, the Vietnamese team will meet Singapore again in the semi-finals of a Southeast Asian football championship. Singapore's leading daily The Straits Times wrote: "Football fever is returning, the attraction of the match between Singapore and the Vietnamese team is too great. Fans lined up to buy tickets for the first leg match at Jalan Besar Stadium 16 hours before tickets went on sale (from noon on December 22)." "This scene of ticket fever is reminiscent of the days when football was always hot in Singapore in the 1970s-1990s, and the period 2000-2010," The Straits Times continued.

Báo Đông Nam Á: Sức hút trận đấu đội tuyển Việt Nam gặp Singapore quá lớn - 2 — The Vietnamese team helps bring back the hot football atmosphere in Singapore (Photo: Manh Quan).

"People lined up around Jalan Besar Stadium on December 22, the day tickets went on sale for the first leg of the semi-final against Vietnam. The second leg in Vietnam also saw a similar rush for tickets. The match took place on the evening of December 29 at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho), about 80km from Hanoi," The Straits Times added. In another article, also published by The Straits Times , the newspaper quoted coach Tsutomu Ogura: "We are in the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2024 and will meet the Vietnam team. We don't want to stop here, the Singapore team wants to go further. The whole team will continue to try." The Singapore team will play confidently, just like how we faced Thailand. "I don't know how far we will go, but all members of the Singapore team always want to move forward," the Japanese coach added in The Straits Times. Meanwhile, the ASEAN Football website, which specializes in Southeast Asian football, commented: "The top match between the Vietnam and Singapore teams created unbelievable attraction. All tickets (for both the first and second legs) were sold out within 6 hours from the time of sale." "Singapore fans lined up outside Jalan Besar Stadium waiting to buy tickets for the first leg. Some of them queued up to 16 hours, from the night before, waiting to buy tickets on December 22," ASEAN Football added. Regarding the technical issues of the match, ASEAN Football mentioned an important detail: "Even the Singapore team had to get used to Jalan Besar Stadium. They used to play on natural grass in the group stage, but now have to switch to artificial turf in the semi-finals, because the Singapore National Stadium is rented to host a music event.