Mr. Thang 'causes a fever' at the workers' football tournament

bầu Thắng - Ảnh 1. — Long An International Port (red shirt) competed with great effort against Khanh Hoa Trade Union - Photo: QUANG DINH

On the morning of October 11, the Southern qualifying round of the 2025 Vietnam Workers and Civil Servants Football Tournament held at Ton Duc Thang University Stadium (HCMC) welcomed a very special character.

That is Mr. Vo Quoc Thang - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dong Tam Joint Stock Company (Dong Tam Group), investor of Long An International Port.

Mr. Vo Quoc Thang is a famous boss of Vietnamese football. He used to be the chairman of Dong Tam Long An Club - a force in Vietnamese football in the past with two consecutive V-League championships in 2005 and 2006.

Therefore, the presence of Mr. Vo Quoc Thang made it easy for people at the workers' football field to recognize him. When he went down to the field to cheer for the Long An International Port team, the head of the delegation and the players of the Khanh Hoa Trade Union recognized him and greeted him. Many players were cheered on and played more enthusiastically.

Long An International Port lost to Dong Nai Trade Union 3-0-7 in the opening match on October 10. Therefore, Long An International Port players are even more determined in the confrontation with Khanh Hoa Trade Union on the morning of October 11. Especially when the leader like Vo Quoc Thang is cheering them on.

bầu Thắng - Ảnh 2. — Mr. Thang (right) with journalist Tran Xuan Toan - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre newspaper, head of the tournament organizing committee and Mr. Bui Hoang Vu - head of the sports committee watched the match - Photo: QUANG DINH

Long An International Port conceded an early goal in the first minutes. But in the following minutes, the team played much better when Mr. Vo Quoc Thang sat next to the technical area to cheer.

"Great!", Mr. Thang shouted and clapped his hands when goalkeeper Tran Hai Dang excellently blocked a clear goal from Long An International Port.

"Up to now, losing by only one goal is fine. Try to play, next year I will bring Calisto to coach", Mr. Thang turned to add to the players sitting on the bench, making everyone burst into laughter.

With the encouragement of Mr. Thang on the field, the players of the International Port played more resiliently, despite the strong Khanh Hoa Union. In the second half, the team only lost one more goal, ending the match 0-2 but full of joy because of the encouragement and companionship of the chairman.

We were quite surprised to see Mr. Vo Quoc Thang come to the field to cheer, sitting close to the field to cheer instead of sitting in the stands. That was a great encouragement for the whole team to play better," said goalkeeper Tran Hai Dang - who was poked by Mr. Thang for having a beer belly but still played well.

bầu Thắng - Ảnh 3. — Mr. Thang chatted intimately with Long An International Port players during the match - Photo: QUANG DINH

Mr. Thang will establish a Dong Tam Group workers' football team.

Talking to Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Thang said: "Yesterday, I was busy so I didn't go to the field to watch the opening day of the Southern qualifying round of the Vietnam Workers' and Civil Servants' Football Tournament 2025.

I tried opening the websites to see if there was any live match and saw a match between Long An International Port and Dong Nai 3 Trade Union.

This surprised me a lot, because this meaningful tournament was broadcast live so that those interested could watch it on their smartphones. The brothers at Long An International Port also took the opportunity to watch their team compete and cheer from afar.

Of course it's sad that the team lost the opening match, but having a meaningful playground for workers to relax after tiring working hours is very interesting."

"Every afternoon, the brothers at the Port often go to the Port's two 5-a-side pitches to compete together. I see that the brothers are fast and play well on the wall, but when they come here to compete with other teams in the tournament, they are even better," Mr. Thang added with a smile.

Mr. Thang said that in the past, the U21 Dong Tam Long An team also had many players who were factory workers. So next season, he will establish a factory workers' football team called Dong Tam Group to compete.

He said: "I will establish the Dong Tam Group team to compete in the tournament next year, and recruit more good players from factories in the Central region. The team will select and train better than now to compete for a ticket to the final round."