But, that is not all, when Mr. Do Quang Hien with the familiar name Bau Hien - Executive Chairman of T&T Group - the founder and first chairman of Hanoi Club always confided that: his joy is not only the success of Hanoi Football Club - but above all - what he contributed and did very specifically for the development of Vietnamese football.

And Chairman Hien always walks the talk, and the latest success of the Vietnam U17 team, securing a place in the 2026 U17 Asian Championship finals, owes a great deal to Hanoi FC.

Present and future

The Vietnam U17 team topped Group C with 15 points, scoring 30 goals and conceding none, securing the only spot in the finals in Saudi Arabia from May 7th to 24th, 2026. Even more impressively, in the decisive match for first place in Group C, both Vietnam and Malaysia had four wins each, but Vietnam had the advantage with a superior goal difference of +26 compared to +20. This meant that a draw would have been enough for Vietnam to eliminate Malaysia.

But contrary to many predictions, the Vietnamese team, under the guidance of coach Cristiano Roland, displayed an attractive attacking style of play and constantly put pressure on the opponent's entire field. That's why, in the 4th minute, Vietnam opened the scoring and ultimately won convincingly against Malaysia 4-0.

This is the second consecutive time that coach Roland has led Vietnam to the U17 Asian Championship finals. Previously, in April 2025, at the 2025 U17 Asian Championship finals, after two impressive 1-1 draws against Japan and Australia, in the final match, the Vietnamese team led UAE 1-0 until the 87th minute, but then conceded an equalizer, thus missing out on a ticket to the 2025 World Cup finals in Qatar at the end of November.

While Hanoi FC contributed 8 players born in 2008 to the Vietnamese national team for the 2025 AFC U17 Championship finals, in the 2026 AFC U17 Championship qualifiers, Hanoi FC has 5 players born in 2009 who will represent the Vietnamese U17 team.

Notably, Roland is the coach of the Hanoi U17 team, which won the Vietnam U17 championship for two consecutive years (2024, 2025). His philosophy of playing beautiful, attacking, and effective football has been instilled in the Hanoi players as well as the Vietnamese national team players. Coach Roland stated that he always wants to do what is best for Vietnam and for Vietnamese football.

But why does Brazilian coach Roland work in Vietnam with such love and dedication to Vietnam's development?

Simply because Coach Roland previously played for Hanoi FC and won the V-League in 2010 and 2013. Afterward, Roland was invited by Chairman Do Quang Hien to coach the Hanoi U17 team, and Mr. Hien's philosophy of always contributing to Vietnamese football has been instilled in Coach Roland in particular and all members of the Hanoi FC ecosystem in general.

A glorious past from 2018

2018 marked the beginning of the most successful period in Vietnamese football history with an unexpected achievement: runner-up in the U23 Asian Championship in Changzhou (China).

Of the 23 players who achieved this glorious feat, Hanoi FC contributed 6 players: defender Doan Van Hau; center-backs Nguyen Thanh Chung and Do Duy Manh; midfielders Nguyen Quang Hai, Pham Duc Huy, and Truong Van Thai Quy. This is not including goalkeeper Nguyen Van Hoang and center-back Tran Dinh Trong (Saigon FC); goalkeeper Dang Ngoc Tuan, center-back Bui Tien Dung, and striker Ha Duc Chinh (SHB Da Nang), who play for two clubs sponsored by Chairman Hien. In total, 11 out of 23 U23 Vietnam players (47.8%) benefited directly or indirectly from Chairman Hien's contributions.

This is considered the most talented generation of Vietnamese football and has achieved the highest series of successes in the history of Vietnamese football, including reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 Asian Games, the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup, two gold medals at the 2019 and 2021 SEA Games... and reaching the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in the Asian region. Of course, in every competition, Hanoi FC has always contributed the most players to the Vietnamese national teams from the youth to the senior level.

As at the 2019 SEA Games, Hanoi FC contributed 5 players, in addition to Doan Van Hau (Heerenveen, Netherlands); Huynh Tan Sinh ( Quang Nam ); Do Thanh Thinh, Bui Tien Dung, and Ha Duc Chinh (SHB Da Nang). Regarding Doan Van Hau, before agreeing to let him leave Hanoi to play for Heerenveen, Chairman Hien stipulated in the contract that Hau must return to play for the Vietnam U22+2 team at the 2019 SEA Games, and that Chairman Hien would cover all expenses for Hau, approximately 1 billion VND, throughout his time playing at the 2019 SEA Games.

As we know, Hau performed excellently and made a significant contribution to bringing the 2019 SEA Games gold medal to Vietnamese football after a 60-year wait since Vietnam's first gold medal at the 1959 SEAP Games. Hanoi FC also made a considerable contribution, with the captain of the U22+2 Vietnam team at the 2019 SEA Games being the versatile midfielder Do Hung Dung, one of the two players over 22 years old allowed to be added to the squad according to the tournament regulations.

Once again, the long-awaited gold medal for Vietnamese football, after 60 years, was directly and indirectly contributed to by Chairman Hien, with 10 out of 20 players, accounting for 50%.

Recent history shows a close connection to the ASEAN Cup 2024 championship title.

When the referee's whistle blew to end the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 final, 4 out of 11 positions on the field belonged to players currently playing for Hanoi FC: captain Do Duy Manh, center-back Nguyen Thanh Chung, Pham Xuan Manh (a versatile player capable of playing as a center-back, full-back, and winger), and attacking midfielder Nguyen Hai Long.

Even more interestingly, Hai Long, who opened the scoring for Vietnam in their 4-1 victory over Laos, was also the one who scored the final goal, not only securing a 3-2 win for Vietnam in the second leg of the final but also playing a decisive role in making Vietnam the first national team in the history of the tournament to beat Thailand in both legs of the final.

Although striker Pham Tuan Hai left the field in the 83rd minute and couldn't be the fifth Hanoi FC player to fight until the very end, he was the hero of the second leg of the final. Hai's opening goal in the 8th minute gave Vietnamese fans hope of winning the championship, at which point the Vietnamese team took a two-goal lead.

Hai Long also dispelled the fans' worries when Thailand took a 2-1 lead (64th minute), leveling the aggregate score at 3-3 after two legs. In the 74th minute, Hai made a powerful breakthrough on the left wing of the opponent's penalty area, delivering a strong pass that caused the Thai central defender to awkwardly deflect the ball into his own net, giving Vietnam the equalizer at 2-2. This goal put the Vietnamese team ahead 4-3 after two legs. And as mentioned, Hai Long sealed the match with a goal from midfield.

Besides these five players, if we include Nguyen Quang Hai (currently playing for Hanoi Police FC), who was discovered, trained, and played for Hanoi FC for many years, then Hanoi FC contributes 5 out of 11 positions on the field when the referee's whistle signals the end of the second leg of the final.

Words cannot express the joy.

It's impossible to cover the entire 20-year journey of Chairman Hien in particular and the T&T Group in general in a single article. However, simply mentioning and recalling the highlights is more than enough to paint a beautiful picture of Chairman Hien and the T&T Group's contribution to Hanoi FC and Vietnamese football.

That's Hanoi FC, a club that has won the national championship 6 times, the national cup 3 times, and holds the record for winning the national super cup 5 times; they reached the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup 2014, won the Southeast Asian regional championship, and reached the inter-regional final of the AFC Cup 2019, the best performance by a Vietnamese club in a continental tournament.

At the youth level, they have won the national U21 championship 6 times, the national U19 championship 7 times, and the national U17 championship 2 times.

A track record that many teams would envy. But when asked what in football brings the most joy to Chairman Hien?

Without directly answering, Chairman Hien reiterated the achievements of being runners-up in the 2018 U23 Asian Championship, winning the 2018 AFF Cup, and winning the gold medal at the 2019 SEA Games – milestones that helped Vietnamese football reach new heights. With the 2024 ASEAN Cup championship, joy has returned to Vietnamese football fans, creating opportunities for Vietnamese football to rise. Chairman Hien is happy not only because of the images of people taking to the streets to celebrate, but also because the Vietnamese national football team players, including many trained at the Hanoi Youth Football Training Center, have turned the impossible into the possible.

Mr. Hien thoughtfully shared that when the children turn the impossible into possible, this success will spread to many other fields. When many positive things that are impossible become possible in all fields, Vietnam will develop, as Vietnamese football has had a new position since 2018.

Mr. Hien is always happy and willing to do anything to improve Vietnamese football. Therefore, Mr. Hien said that the two victories of Hanoi FC in the AFC Champions League against Wuhan Three Towns (China) and the reigning champion Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) in December 2023 also brought him indescribable emotions. Why?

Because these are not just ordinary wins and losses in football, but victories that bring value to the image, brand, and reputation of a Vietnamese football club in particular and Vietnamese football in general.

Driven by a desire to invest in football for the Hanoi brand and, above all, for Vietnam, before the second leg of the 2024 ASEAN Cup final in Thailand – a crucial match for the Vietnamese national team and a game that would decide the championship dreams of Vietnamese football fans – Mr. Hien, in his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors of SHB Bank, decided to charter a plane to bring fans to Thailand to support the team. Furthermore, SHB sponsored all expenses (airfare, accommodation, transportation, and match tickets) for the players' relatives and loyal customers, totaling up to 600 people.

Also under the leadership of Chairman Hien, SHB was one of the main sponsors that funded the purchase of broadcasting rights for the FIFA World Cup 2022 men's football tournament and partnered with the National Assembly Television to broadcast matches of the FIFA World Cup 2023 women's football tournament.

Speaking about his involvement in football, Chairman Hien shared: "Football brings happiness, pride, and unity to the nation. As a fan, I always hope that Vietnamese football will continue to develop."

Speaking little, doing much, and doing it effectively – that's the style of Chairman Hien. Such leadership partly explains the success of T&T Group and SHB Bank, two entities that, in the field of sports alone, have not only supported men's football but also table tennis and women's football. Through this, the development of Vietnamese football, from men's to women's, and table tennis, all bear the mark of T&T Group and SHB Bank, led by Chairman Hien!