[Photos] A Historic Night of Bão to Celebrate a Historic Gold Medal 60 Years in the Making

Vietnam’s U-22 men’s football team just won their first-ever SEA Games gold medal. 

The Vietnamese men’s team dominated possession and ultimately thrashed Indonesia 3-0 in a match they never seemed at risk of losing. A first-half goal from Doan Van Hau brought confidence, before second-half goals from Hung Dung and yet another from Van Hau secured the victory.

The men's team went through to the finals after demolishing Cambodia 4-0 on Saturday. It doesn't take much for local football fans to break out their flags, vuvuzelas and red-and-yellow face paint, but this gold medal is especially poignant because it was 60 years in the making. Streams of people took to the streets last night for an all-nighter of joyful celebration.

Downtown Saigon was unsurprisingly reduced to hours-long gridlock, but no one seemed to mind too much. Public areas like Nguyen Hue Walking Street and Ham Nghi Avenue were chock-full of fans waving flags, dancing, chanting, lighting fireworks and singing patriotic songs.

The victory follows a gold medal for Vietnam's women’s team on Sunday. Tuoi Tre reported that the squad took down their Thai rivals 1-0 in Manila in a match that went 120 minutes due to extra time. The Vietnamese women already won the 2019 AFF Women's Championship and took home gold at the 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia.

This is this latest in a long line of SEA Games success for the Vietnamese women's team, which has now won six gold medals in the regional competition: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017 and this year.

Vietnam's men's team finished second at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship and secured the fourth position at the 2018 Asian Games. They also memorably won the 2018 AFF Cup and advanced to the 2019 Asian Cup quarterfinals. In April this year, the men’s team was valued at US$1.9 million.

Here are some memorable moments of celebration on Saigon streets that our photographer captured last night, have a look below and Việt Nam Vô Địch!