Int'l 7-A-Side Football Tournament To Be Held in Hanoi This Week

Following the success at tournaments in 2023 and the first edition held in 2022, the international seven-a-side football tournament will be kicked off January 11 evening in Hanoi, VNS reported.

The Wika Cup will feature four teams, Nongpookao x Nongpoothan of Thailand, Kickerz of Malaysia and two Vietnamese champions Dai Tu and Hieu Hoa - Quahaco.

They will compete in a round robin format and the team with most points will bring home the trophy.

Organized for the second time to maintain and build an annual playground for football teams in Southeast Asia, the tournament aims to raise the level of 7-a-side football in Vietnam and internationally to jointly develop football together, creating sustainable values for the community. Photo: Dai Nam

In the opening match, Nongpookao x Nongpoothan will play Kickerz at the Hoang Mai District's Culture, Information and Sports Centre on January 11. The two host teams will play each other in the later game, and the final round matches will be on January 14.

"It is the second edition of the tournament as the organizers and sponsors, especially Wika Sports, have worked hard to make it happen," said Pham Ngoc Tuan, head of the organizing committee.

"We have to thank all partners who strongly support us to continue organizing the event and developing seven-a-side football. We believe that in the near future this special kind of football will grow strongly in Vietnam, Southeast Asia and Asia. Seven-a-side football will be Vietnam's pride in the world," he said.

According to the organizers, the tournament will be competitive and continue attracting a huge number of supporters as in the first edition in 2022.

Dai Tu is the reigning national champion team while Hieu Hoa - Quahaco is the National Cup winner. These clubs are both considered the strongest sides of Vietnam currently.

Nongpookao x Nongoothan overcame nearly 700 clubs in local leagues to secure their spot at the Wika Cup, while Kickerz are a powerful team in their Malaysian championship, the organizers said at a press briefing on January 9 in Hanoi.

In the first championship, four teams from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam competed with each other.

The host side which gathered national best players successfully kept the trophy home.

The tournament creates an opportunity for football teams in Southeast Asia to compete, interact, and introduce Vietnam's wonderful football culture to the region and the world. Source: HPL

Speaking at the briefing, Le Thi Hoang Yen, deputy director of the Sports Authority of Vietnam, said despite being an amateur event, the tournament lured thousands of fans to the stadium while many others watched live on TV and other platforms.

The huge number of supporters of seven-a-side football, which was definitely the dream of many V.League clubs, showed their great care for this sport. Public's attention would help it develop better and stronger.

Yen hoped that Vietnamese players would do a good job here and keep the trophy at home. From this tournament, seven-a-side football would reach regional and continental level in which Vietnam would be the core and leader of the movement.

Le Hong Linh, representative of Wika Sports, said Vietnam's football in general and seven-a-side football in particular had remarkably developed recently in both terms of scale and quality. Wika was a sponsor of the tournament in the first season and now wanted to contribute more in hopes of making it an annual event.

The company hoped to lift the tournament locally and internationally, bringing good value to the community.

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