Silent Lonesome Man

When the UEFA announced a new competition would take place, we wondered with a lot of questions. In the end, the UEFA really did: the establishment of the Nations League, modelled from the domestic leagues across the world, divided into four divisions: A, B, C, D. All 55 members were allowed to take place, and the league will act as alternative options for many countries to qualify for the UEFA European Championship, and to a lesser extent, the FIFA World Cup. The foundation of the UEFA Nations League was met with initial scepticism, but once the inaugural season began in 2018, it would become a massive success. Considering that the UEFA officials criticised the ineffectiveness of friendlies, it was quite realistic for the European football makers to have a new, competitive format. Soon after the UEFA did so, the CONCACAF - composed of countries from North America - also announced the same tournament. This left only three federations with little reforms in organising new football tourn...

This was one of the many images captured from the Mỹ Đình National Stadium, the largest sporting facility in entire Vietnam. You may see this was a football (or soccer) action on the field, yes, the match between Vietnam and Australia during the campaign for Qatar 2022. But, if you keep your eyes closer to the field, you may have to doubt this. I'm talking about Vietnam's widespread state corruption. The Mỹ Đình facilities were built in 2001 as an attempt to refurbish Vietnam's image on its path of economic reintegration following decades of isolation and international sanctions due to the war in Cambodia. And why it was built? Simply, for the 2003 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, by that time the largest sporting event had ever been hosted in the country. There were hopes that Vietnam could be guaranteed a special place for future international competitions in case of any football games scheduled here. The 2003 SEA Games finally broke the barrier and gave the Vietnamese people...