Unique Can Gio stilt football

Anyone who has the opportunity to attend the Nghinh Ong Festival - Can Gio (Ho Chi Minh City), in addition to participating in many activities, cultural and artistic programs, sports, folk games... will be extremely excited to enjoy the unique football match on the tall stilts of the fishing village people.

From a familiar ancient tool for catching seafood, the stilts, the fishermen in Can Gio have created a unique stilt soccer game that brings laughter to tourists and local people. The match took place on the fine sand of Can Thanh beach, the Organizing Committee stretched ropes to create a soccer field of about ^300m2 . From early morning, 10 players, fishermen from the fishing village, were divided into 2 teams to prepare for the match.

Vietnam.vn invites you to join this unique football match through the photo series "Unique Can Gio stilt football" by author Kieu Anh Dung. The match is officiated by a main referee and assistant referees like other professional football matches. Notably, the referee team all went barefoot, to make it easier to move on the sand. As soon as the starting whistle blew, the two teams immediately had fierce ball-snatching phases. Unlike football matches on the field, the players of this match did not wear shoes, but wore stilts 80cm high, attached to their feet. Therefore, moving and competing for the ball is also more difficult. Playing football on stilts 80cm high is very difficult, especially when playing on the beach because it will sink and hurt your feet. The photo series was submitted by the author to the Photo and Video Contest "Happy Vietnam - Happy Vietnam", organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The two teams fought fiercely for the ball from the first minutes of the match.

The two teams are divided into 5 players each, wearing yellow and red shirts, each match consists of two halves, each lasting 15 minutes. The goalkeeper also becomes more special when he mainly uses stilts to shield the goal, but still has spectacular saves including penalty kicks. Wearing long stilts makes it more difficult to move, but the players still compete fiercely for the ball. Players who fall during the dispute must have the help of the referee and teammates to stand up and continue playing.

People enjoy taking pictures with the stilt players before the match.

After the starting whistle, the two teams began to pass the ball to attack.

A large crowd of locals and tourists were present to watch the match. The ball fights, the tumbles, and the jubilant celebrations on the field made the spectators outside laugh out loud.

Focus on finishing to bring victory to the yellow team.

After 30 minutes of play, the final whistle blew. Both teams happily waved to the audience after the unique competition that only takes place once a year.

The Whale Festival is an indispensable cultural feature of coastal fishermen, associated with the whale worship custom of ancient seafarers. This is considered a folk belief passed down from generation to generation and has been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage since 2013. In 2024, the Photo and Video Contest "Happy Vietnam" will continue to be organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications in coordination with the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists on the website https://happy.vietnam.vn is open to all Vietnamese citizens and foreigners aged 15 and over. The contest aims to honor individuals and groups with positive information products, making practical contributions to the propaganda and promotion of a beautiful image of Vietnam to the world. Thereby helping people in the country, compatriots abroad and international friends access authentic images of the country, Vietnamese people, Vietnam's achievements in ensuring human rights, towards a happy Vietnam. Each contest category (photo and video) has the following prizes and prize values: - 01 Gold Medal: 70,000,000 VND - 02 Silver Medals: 20,000,000 VND - 03 Bronze Medals: 10,000,000 VND - 10 Encouragement Prizes: 5,000,000 VND - 01 most voted work: 5,000,000 VND The winning authors will be invited by the Organizing Committee to attend the Award Ceremony and Award Ceremony and Certificate on live television of Vietnam Television.

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