Top striker Le Cong Vinh celebrates after doubling the score for Vietnam in a 3-1 home win against Lebanon at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium on Wednesday in the 2011 Asian Cup qualifying round

Vietnam’s number one striker picked the perfect storm to ride to win the 2008 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup title in December.

Le Cong Vinh’s goals did more than salvage a personal bad year for the striker, they made him a national hero.

The three-time national “Golden Ball” award winner didn’t score a goal in the group stage and the semifinals of the tournament but his goals, one in each leg of the finals against title contender Thailand, stunned millions of Thai fans, stealing Vietnam’s first victory in the competition since the original regional championship 49 years ago.

Vinh hugged the national team coach Henrique Calisto and burst out crying when he scored the goals, so great was the significance for the team - even greater for himself after being criticized for not scoring in previous games.

Sad birthday

Vinh may have been unhappy because he didn’t score a goal in the first two matches in the group stage in Phuket against home team Thailand and the competitive Malaysian team; but he was miserable on his birthday on December 10 because he did not score against the underdog, Laos.

Vinh couldn’t shrug off the pressures he felt. Firstly, he didn’t feel comfortable on Surakul Stadium rough pitch in Phuket.

“We couldn’t imagine that the field was so bad,” Vinh said. “It was much worse than the fields in my village years ago. The whole time I felt afraid of suffering an injury and I couldn’t concentrate on playing football. We usually make short passes and 1-2 combinations but the bad field surface made it impossible for us.”

The political crisis in Thailand was also a factor that affected his game.

“I think the tournament should have been organized in Vietnam or Malaysia. We were pretty frightened and couldn’t focus on playing. How could we give excellent performances?” Vinh said.

When they performed poorly, the team was bitterly criticized, which made the situation worse. Vinh said some newspapers even blamed his poor performances on his personal life.

“Some newspapers said I was affected by a new contract with a new club. They even said I was distracted because of my love affair,” Vinh said.

“In fact, I was badly influenced by the poor facilities of the stadium in Phuket, the political crisis in Thailand and criticism of the fans. My personal life didn’t affect my performance in the tournament at all,” Vinh said, adding he wasn’t making excuses, he just wanted fans to understand.

Calisto kept faith

While Vinh was disappointed because he couldn’t demonstrate his ability, coach Calisto always supported and believed in him.

“Vinh is Vietnam’s number one striker. He is like a pressed-down spring waiting for a chance to spring up.” Calisto said.

That faith has since turned into something else as Vinh starred again on Wednesday scoring the second goal in the 2-0 home match as the favorites against Lebanon in the Asia Cup qualifying match.

Reported by Thanh Luong