"Before going to the UAE, all team members were prioritized for Covid-19 vaccination. We are proud to contribute our bit to the Covid-19 battle and promise to continue trying our best at the World Cup qualifiers. Hopefully, the victory will cheer up and give people more strength in fighting the pandemic," team captain Que Ngoc Hai said.
After beating Indonesia 4-0 at the World Cup Asian qualifiers Monday night, the team were awarded VND1 billion ($44,000) by the government. Congratulating the team, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged them to focus on their next matches with Malaysia and the UAE.
Vietnam's Covid-19 vaccine fund will be used to buy Covid-19 vaccines from abroad and support the production of made-in-Vietnam vaccines to help inoculate 70 percent of the country's population.
The fund has received donations and pledges worth over VND7.6 trillion ($329 million) from businesses and other donors since it was established two weeks ago.
The national football team will play Malaysia on June 11 and the UAE on June 15. They need four more points to secure a place in the final World Cup qualifying round.