Thailand's SEA Games match a hair-shedding experience

Thailand’s SEA Games match a hair-shedding experience

 

OBVIOUSLY A MAJOR part of enjoying the game of football is watching the antics of your fellow fans, even if they’re not supporting your exact team. Everyone had a good laugh on Wednesday when Vietnamese singer (and, yes, die-hard football fan) Nguyen Tuan Hung, 37, had to make good on the pledge he’d made before his team took on Thailand at the Singapore SEA Games. He swore he’d shave his head if his guys lost. And then they did. 

Well, Tuan Hung said he’d get around to the self-scalping just as soon as he gets back from a trip to Berlin, but meanwhile there was still plenty of fun to be had.

When word initially spread about the singer’s vow, Thai fans doubled down on their prayers for Thailand to win the match, with Preeti “Bank” Baramianan of the rock band Clash upping the ante by promising to shave his head if Thailand lost. Of course, as was plainly evident from a photo of Bank that widely circulated among the fans online, he’s already a skinhead, and by stylistic choice, not as a result of any football shame. 

Not to worry: The Thai squad did us all proud by beating Vietnam 3-1 and, once the whistle blew, the merriment over the haircut sweepstakes continued on Twitter and Facebook. 

Within minutes someone posted a picture of Tuan Hung with his head shaved, though clearly he’d been to the “Photoshop hair salon”. As one wag captioned it, “Kon game Barca, Lang game barber”, meaning “He boasts before the game that Vietnam are Barcelona, but after the game he goes to a barber.” 

It was only a matter of time before Thai fans tracked down Tuan Hung’s Facebook page and began demanding to see clippers in action, and several Vietnamese fans joined in the calls for him to make good on his pledge. Thai Rath Online reported that Vietnamese news media had also zeroed in on the singer’s gambit. 

Feeling the pressure, Tuan Hung posted that he would indeed get shaved once he’s back from Germany, telling his 500,000-plus followers: “Good-bye, my hairstyle of several years. I have to keep my word, although the new hairstyle may not be as good as this one. But it’s all for my love of football.” 

And then it turned out that Tuan Hung didn’t bother waiting. He went to his local barber the next day and posted a photo of his own variation on the skinhead – not completely shaved, though close enough. Maybe it’s not enough to satisfy every Thai fan, but at least he did keep his promise. The guy ought to consider entering politics.