Hundreds of Vietnamese football fans arrived in the That Luong square in Vientiane, Laos to show their support to the U23 football squad before the opening match against Thailand this afternoon.

At the Vietnam-Laos border gate, many cars queued in a long line waiting to enter Laos.

Vo Hong Sang, a representative of Hanoi Redtour in Laos, said that in the last two days, Vietnamese visitors have flocked to Laos via the Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Thailand borders.

At least 300 people entered Laos from Thailand, via the Nong Khai border gate on December 1. At the Cau Treo border gate between Vietnam and Laos, many coaches carrying Vietnamese visitors waited to fulfill entrance formalities.

“Most foreign visitors in Vientiane at this time are Vietnamese and Thai. But now the number of Vietnamese people is higher than Thai. They came here to support the match this afternoon,” Sang commented.

Le Duc Trung, chairman of the Vietnam Football Fan Association, expressed his regret that he could not go to Laos to day. He said he will go to Laos with nearly 100 fans on December 12 and will stay there until the final match takes place.

The fan association sent a group of fans to Laos to cheer for the U23 squad this afternoon. They went to Laos with trumpets, drums, flags, banners and 200 T-shirts as gifts for Vietnamese in Laos. In addition a 200sq.m Vietnamese flag will be carried to Laos in the next few days.

Arriving early in Laos a fan named Long from Hanoi predicted that U23 Vietnam will defeat Thailand 2-1.

However, Vietnamese fans are worried that they cannot get enough tickets for the match and there will be a shortage of hotels in Vientiane.

According to VNExpress online newspaper, many Vietnamese fans have had to temporarily stay in Thailand because they cannot book hotels in Laos. The prices for hotel rooms in Laos have soared to $40-100/room/day.

The opening match will start at 5.15pm today and will be aired live on VTV2 channel.

VietNamNet/VNE