Vietnamese football year in review

1. Japanese coach in charge of Vietnam's national teams

Japanese expert Toshiya Miura has been in charge of the men's national football team and the national Olympic team following a two-year contract signed with the Vietnam Football Federation in Ho Chi Minh City on May 10.

Unlike other former foreign coaches of the national team, such as Alfred Riedl (Australia), Henrique Calisto (Portugal) and Falko Goetz (Germany), Toshiya Miura took over the 'hot seat' under numerous expressions of surprise and doubt, with a resume that was not entirely impressive to Vietnamese fans. The doubt was compounded by the fact that he had not led any teams since bidding farewell to Japanese teams, Vissel Kobe and Ventforet Kofu, in 2011.

But after just a few months in charge, Miura has proved his deep knowledge of football and has brought new life to Vietnam's national teams. The 51-year-old had his competence affirmed, to some extent, by leading the Olympic team to round of 16 at the 17th Asian Games (Asiad), and the national team through to the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals.

2. Vietnam Olympic team causes big surprise at 17th Asiad

After over three months of working with Vietnamese football, Toshiya Miura led the Vietnam Olympic team to compete in the 17th Asiad, aiming to help young players gain experience and select outstanding faces for the national team.

The Japanese tactician had an excellent debut in his new post as his players excelled beyond expectation, beating reigning champions Iran with a stunning score of 4-1 in their Asiad opener before qualifying for the round of 16 as group leaders for the first time ever in history.

3. Vietnamese women claim first-ever Asiad semifinal berth

Along with the men's excellence, Vietnam's female footballers also reached another milestone in national football history by making the Asiad semifinal round for the first time ever.

The women's national team lost 0-5 to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in their opening group match, but promptly redeemed themselves with a 5-0 win over Hong Kong (China) in the last one, qualifying for the quarterfinal, in which they beat Thailand 2-1 to make the semifinal round.

Despite failing to conquer Japan in the semifinal and the Republic of Korea in the bronze medal match, coach Mai Duc Chung and his female players still won praises from Vietnamese football lovers.

4. A successful year for Becamex Binh Duong

2014 proved to be a fabulous year for Becamex Binh Duong, making history as the first team to claim the V-League title three times. Binh Duong took the 2014 crown with one match in hand, scoring 49 points after 23 matches and enjoying 52 goals for and just 22 goals against.

Good news continued arriving as Binh Duong, as defending V-league champions, booked a berth in the group stage of the 2015 AFC Champions League after meeting the Asian Football Confederation's club licensing requirements.

The National Super Cup trophy, won on December 27 against Vicem Hai Phong, was Binh Duong's perfect finish to their 2014 football campaign, boosting their players' spirit and confidence ahead of the 2015 season.

5. Men's team make AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals

2014 witnessed a stunning comeback of the Vietnam men's national team in the AFF Suzuki Cup arena. The national squad, coached by Japanese Toshiya Miura, treated home fans to an extremely impressive performance, qualifying for the knockout round as Group A leaders with two wins over Laos (3-0) and the Philippines (3-1) and a 2-2 draw against Indonesia.

Vietnamese man had home fans on their feet again with a resounding 2-1 victory over Malaysia in their first-leg semifinal clash at Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor. Despite failing to claim the final berth following a bitter 2-4 loss in the second leg on home field, the team still gave Vietnamese football lovers hope for a bright future of national football, with the players' efforts and the rejuvenation policy of Toshiya Miura, who has proved knowledgeable about Vietnamese football after just a few months of working as coach of national and Olympic teams.

6. A fever named U19 Vietnam

After finishing second at the 2013 AFF U19 Youth Championship in Indonesia, the Vietnam U19 national football team began drawing public attention with a generation of promising young stars including Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Dong Trieu and Van Toan.

It was not until 2014 that U19 Vietnam created a real fever among Vietnamese football lovers. This year alone, the team participated in five tournaments including the international U19 competition in Ho Chi Minh City, the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy international tournament in Brunei, the AFF U-19 Youth Championship in Hanoi, the AFC U19 Championship finals in Myanmar, and the international U21 tournament in Can Tho city.

With their enthusiastic, skillful and eye-catching playing style, U19 Vietnam won the fine sentiments, numerous praises and admiration of football lovers throughout the country. Concluding the year with the championship trophy of the Thanh Nien (Young People) Newspaper International U21 Tournament, these young talented players promise to be the breadwinners of the national, national U22 and national U23 teams in the near future.

7. Debates over Cong Phuong's age fraud suspicion

Whether Cong Vuong, the emerging star of Vietnamese football, was born in 1995 or 1993, took central stage over the past two months with many contrariwise viewpoints, forcing authorised agencies to intervene and identify the player's real age. The final conclusion was officially announced by the Nghe An provincial Justice Department, clarifying that the captain of the Vietnam national U19 team was born in 1995, which also meant Cong Phuong was not lying about his age.

8. U19 Vietnam fail to make FIFA U20 World Cup finals

Vietnam's U19 football team participated in the 2014 AFC U19 Championship finals in Myanmar, aiming to finish among the top four teams to qualify for the 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand.

However, drawn in a group made up of powerhouses including Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, the Vietnamese men had to bid farewell to their dream right after the group-stage qualification. Cong Phuong and his teammates lost 0-6 to the Republic of Korea in the opener, succumbing 1-3 to Japan in their second and holding China to a surprising 1-1 draw in their last group game.

9. Vietnamese women drop World Cup ticket opportunity

The Vietnamese women's national football team missed the chance to join the world's biggest football festival - the FIFA Women's World Cup - in Canada next year after they slumped to a 1-2 defeat against Thailand in the fifth-place playoff at the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup finals in Ho Chi Minh City last May.

The finals brought together eight teams, competing for the continent's five World Cup slots. With Japan, Australia, China and the Republic of Korea ending up in the top four, Vietnam and Thailand faced off in a playoff for the remaining berth. Unfortunately the Vietnamese women could not seize this golden opportunity to realise their long-standing World Cup dream.

10. Two match-fixing cases unveiled

Apart from the positive of 2014, Vietnamese football was not without a darker side, with two match-fixing cases involving nine Vissai Ninh Binh players in the AFC Cup and six Dong Nai players in the national top-tier league, V-League.

The discovery and handling of these match-fixing culprits reflects the strong determination of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and newly-elected VFF chairman Le Hung Dung in their anti-match fixing campaign, which aims to recover home fans' faith in national football.

(Source: Nhandan Online)