2024 Vietnam Workers and Civil Servants Football Tournament: Workers share a love for football
The atmosphere on the opening day of the 2024 workers' football tournament qualifiers in Binh Duong area on the morning of October 4 was stirred up by fans - workers, laborers from many factories and enterprises.
On the morning of October 4-10, 60 workers of Chi Hung Company Limited in orange-white striped uniforms brought a flute and brilliant hand-held clusters of flowers to cheer for the teams participating in the workers' football tournament, especially the two host teams of Binh Duong.
Enthusiastic Fans
"Today is still a working day, but the company allowed the cheering team to leave early in the morning. Those who love football should register because the company always supports the sports movement of workers and is still beatified by the company. Even in the company, there is a court for football enthusiasts to have a court to play after work," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha - head of the Chi Hung Company union.
Ms. Do Thi Thanh Loan - a worker at Chi Hung Company - said: "My husband also loves acorns. When I was in the tournament, I also went with him. I support my husband because it is both good for health and entertainment, meeting everyone". A good thing for workers in Chi Hung is that "this year the company's orders are very stable, overtime is steady". Knowing that the team from Hau Giang had no fans, she and the whole team occasionally cheered "Hau Giang is trying to get up".
Not as crowded as Chi Hung, but the workers of Zeng Hsing Company also cheered equally enthusiastically. Mr. Nguyen Van Teo - the group leader - said: "The company is also holding internal competitions from football, volleyball, badminton to folk sports such as tug of war, sack... The company has about 1,500 workers but volleyball has up to 10 men's teams, 6 women's teams, and 10 men's teams, 6 women's teams. I also play in a football team, a volleyball team".
The company has a football field, so Mr. Teo also formed a team to play together as a way to entertain and improve health after a day of work.
Workers and civil servants go "tournament"
In the second year of participating in the workers' football tournament, this year the Hau Giang Trade Union team participated with a special team with players who are teachers, district People's Committee office officials, district Party Committee Propaganda Department... Competing far away, there was still a working day of the week, but the team had a special fan riding a bus from 5am to the stadium to cheer.
Ngoc Han (24 years old) said that today she quit her job to be an enthusiastic fan for her lover who is a player in the team with his teammates. In the last 5 minutes of the match, the team only led by one goal, so Han and everyone held their breath to watch and only breathed a sigh of relief when the score of 4-3 against Binh Duong 1 Trade Union team was still preserved when the match ended.
"The photo is of a primary school teacher, and I am an accountant. Normally, they love to play football but only play friendly matches or grassroots tournaments in the district. This is the first time I have seen a national tournament like this," Han shared.
Coming to visit Binh Duong Stadium for the second time, this "match", Binh Thuan Trade Union team won the advantage with a 3-2 victory in the first match against Long An 1 Trade Union. Mr. Le Van Hanh (34 years old), who scored 2 out of 3 goals to help the team win, is an employee of Binh Thuan Lottery Company and also participated in the tournament for the first time. "Being selected for the team is a joy. We try our best to compete, the deeper we get, the better, not setting specific goals," said Mr. Hanh.
Meanwhile, Long An Trade Union has two special teams with one team being civil servants and public employees and one team being workers and laborers in the production sector. With 7 workers selected to join the "unite" squad with 4 other companies, Ching Luh Vietnam Company also sent representatives to accompany and cheer and take care of the players' logistics.
"The Ching Luh company has up to 30,000 workers in 4 factories and participates in most of the province's sports competitions. The company has an internal football field, so in addition to participating in tournaments, the brothers and sisters also regularly form teams to play after work," Ms. Nguyen Phuong Thanh - the coach of the Ching Luh team - shared more.
Female players in the audience seats
Among the fans at Sora Gardens Links Stadium are 5 girls who are workers of Earth Corporation Vietnam and 3 of them are players of the company's women's football team. They came to the stadium to cheer because they were passionate about round balls.
"When I was in school, I liked playing football but I didn't have time. The company also had a women's football team and members of the union to encourage them to participate. Playing football at the company, the union members are worried about the cost, so there is no need to worry", defender Duong Thi Dieu (25 years old) of the Earth Corporation women's football team shared.
Huynh Nhu (26 years old) - another female player who has been participating in the women's team for 2 years - said that playing football is tiring but fun. "My husband also works for the same company and plays for the men's team. Playing football is a way for both of us to exercise and meet friends and colleagues," Nhu said.
