-^-for posterity-^-

choose your favorite team. place them in the most important match they could be in. tonight vietnam played against thailand in the 22nd seagames. events do not get any bigger.

we sat down in the restaurant to watch the game. we were the only foreigners there. i was wearing my vietnamese jersey. people stared. one hour and a half of pure energy.

the game was being played in ha noi and everyone was ecstatic. there was a large sign that was held up by the crowd. it said ‘vietnam is invincible’. there were huge flags being carried through the stadium. every other person had their face painted. tonight was important. tonight was special.

in every middle school across the world there is that one kid who beats up on everyone else. in the south east asian games, that one kid is thailand. they are always sucker-punching everyone else. they are the strongest country and they come into the seagames with a bit of an advantage. the first football match for vietnam was against their long-term rivals.

we wanted the bully to loose and the underdog to win. we sat in a restaurant with families and groups of friends and watched the television in anticipation.

the game started slowly. people watched but no one really cared. then, out of the blue, everything changed.

a vietnamese player drove up the left side of the field in the second half. the score was tied at zero. he juked out one player and faked out another. he was to the left of the goal when he changed direction and shot a beautifully arching ball over the outstretched hand of the goalie. everyone rose. they all jumped in their seats and we were in a different world for a moment. the entire restaurant was electric. we walked around and people hugged us and started to cheer 'goal! goal! goal!'

a few minutes later a thai player scored. we spent the rest of the game watching the screen and hoping for a win. we hoped for a win and pushed the thought of losing out of our minds.

after the game we talked to a couple of people. they told us how important this game was. here we were, sitting in a small restaurant in long xuyen, a tiny town in the mekong delta. the people we talked to said that this game was being watched by everyone in vietnam. everyone was in a coffee shop or a restaurant. everyone roared when vietnam scored and everyone sighed when the final whistle blew. this was football. this was a real game with real passion.