Defensive midfielder Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, now 71, played on that celebrated team and also contributed to the team winning a SEAP bronze medal in 1961 and 1965 and the silver medal in 1967.

After the ’59 victory Thanh went on to be selected for the team representing Asia. They played Sheffield United in 1961 and later he became the first Vietnamese coach awarded a coaching certificate by FIFA in 1969.

He participated in the Asian Games (ASIAD) three times, was on the squad that won fourth place at the Asian football championship in 1960 and was on the team that took the Merdeka cup in Malaysia in 1966.

Thanh still remembers the SEAP Games win 50 years ago in Thailand, the only gold medal Vietnam has won so far at the tournament, which is now the SEA Games.

“At that time, I had just been called up to join the South Vietnam squad and we went to Thailand by road,” Thanh said.

“It took us two days to cross Cambodia to arrive in Bangkok. We were short of money, so we slept and ate on the streets.

“We started our first match against the host right after the day we arrived. The popular formation was 3-2-2-3 and I played as a defensive midfielder alongside Le Van Ho.

“The attacking midfielders were Do Quang Thach and Do Thoi Vinh; strikers were Tran Van Nhung, Ha Tam and Nguyen Van Tu (dubbed golden arrow), and Nguyen Van Cut, Pham Van Hieu and Le Van Ty were right in front of goalkeeper Pham Van Rang.

“We defeated Thailand 4-0 in the opener. The next day we encountered Burma and won 3-0. We were extremely happy because we knew we had won a berth in the final as there were only four teams playing in a round robin tournament and the two best teams would play the final.

“That was why we didn’t concentrate in the clash against Malaysia and we lost 1-2 to save energy for the final.

“Then Thailand delayed the final match in order to reduce our excitement but we played exceptionally and beat Thailand 3-1 and won the championship.”

The excellent performance made them famous. Along with Rang and Vinh, Thanh was chosen to join the Asian team. Later, Nguyen Van Ngon and Tam Lang also were selected.

Beating the big teams

Thanh said he had two other unforgettable experiences.

One was a 3-1 victory in Saigon, present-day Ho Chi Minh City, in 1959 over Djugarden, Sweden’s champions at the time. Sweden were the runners-up of the 1958 World Cup where Brazil were winners.

“Sweden’s national players made up one-third of Djugarden but we were not afraid. They were bigger, but we had our way with them and we won the match,” Thanh said.

The other great memory for Thanh was a 2-0 win over Israel in Tel Aviv in the Tokyo Olympics qualifying round in 1964.

“We had lost 0-1 to Israel in the previous match in Saigon,” Thanh said. “Everyone expected another loss or a draw. But we told ourselves to do our best. We became a better team spiritually and we grabbed a win. We couldn’t sleep that night.”

Obstacles in coaching

Introduced by the then South Vietnam team coach from Germany Karl Heinz Weigang, Thanh participated in a coaching training course organized in Japan in 1969 by FIFA.

“I loved the coaching career because I admired Weigang,” Thanh said. “At the Merdeka Cup in Malaysia in 1966, Weigang proved to be an excellent coach. With his strategies, Vietnam won big matches.

“We crushed Singapore 5-0, defeated Japan 3-0, beat Malaysia 5-2 and thrashed Taiwan 6-1. We were excited and wanted to still concentrate on the match against India in the group stage, but Weigang used most of the subs and we lost 0-1 to India.

“But then we played with all our strengths and won the championship after beating Myanmar 1-0.”

Thanh said he always wanted to be a good coach to further develop Vietnamese football but it was not always in his fate.

“Football was in a very complicated situation in the eighties and nineties, so I had to work different jobs to make a living,” Thanh said.

“I have always hoped the Vietnamese football team would be crowned again at SEA Games, like the AFF Cup title last year. But young players should try harder.”

Reported by Quang Tuyen