Normally the streets of Da Nang quiet down well before 9pm. The Vietnamese are known more as early birds (5am!!) than night owls.
Well this was NOT the case on December 28th!! Vietnam was playing in the final game of the Suzuki cup against long time rivals, Thailand. After a nail biting match with only one minute left in the game Vietnam scored to win the title!!! The Vietnamese have not won a championship of this caliber in 49 years!!
Just to put it in prospective this would be like the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup against the Montreal Canadians at the Air Canada Centre and scoring in sudden death overtime of game 7!! Well maybe not exactly the same...it has only been 42 years since Toronto won a cup:-P And I wouldn't have been celebrating!!
Men, women, children, and Vietnamese of all ages took to the streets immediately after the win to celebrate the sweet victory!!! The celebration went well past midnight!! People were cheering "Vietnam Vo Dich!" (Vietnam is the Champion!), waving flags, improvising barrels and pots as drums, dancing in the streets!! It was a beautiful site and I feel very lucky to have had the chance to celebrate with them:-) Check out the video - it is taken from the exact same spot as the photo above! Vietnam Vo Dich, Vietnam Vo Dich!!
