I have never witnessed such a celebration of a failure in the football tournament.

The return of Vietnam's U23 football team was welcomed by the public across the country. The team was hailed by a 30-km line of football fans standing along two sides of streets from the airport to the heart of the capital after their impressive wins in the AFC U23 contest which the Vietnamese team has first-ever participated in, but they created a hit in print, online media and other social media platforms.

The Vietnamese team was seen as an underdog in this prize. Its group included three football giants: Korea, Socceroos, and Syria. In the first match, they lost the Korean team 2-1. After that, they won the Socceroos 1-0 that made a hit in Vietnam, were in a draw with the Syrian. In the quarter-round, they won Iraq in penalties and in the semi-round, they also won the Qatari in penalties, storming the final. Last, they lost Uzbekistan 1-2 that made their football fan cry a river.

It is a hit in Vietnam because this is the first time the Vietnamese football team came to this round and won a silver medal. When seeing crowds celebrate their team's match in the final, a foreign tourist uttered: "I have never witnessed such a celebration of a loss in the football contest.

The photo courtesy of VN Express.