The 1967 South Vietnam Independence Cup (Vietnamese: 1967 Quốc Khánh Cup) was an invitational men's association football tournament,[3] played in Saigon during the Vietnam War by national teams from mainly anti-communist nations that supported the American war effort, as a propaganda exercise.[1]
The tournament had previously been held annually since 1961, though only involving south-east Asian nations. It was New Zealand's first international tournament[4] and it was to become Australia's first honour in international football. The Australian team toured south-east Asia before and after the tournament, winning all ten matches, and eight of the team went on to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, but their achievement in Saigon was largely overlooked back home.[5]
Matches at Cong Hoa Stadium and training at an army base adjacent to a minefield were conducted under armed guard,[1][4] and the teams also trained on their hotel roof.[6] The tournament was held during monsoon season and many matches were rainy and muddy.[6][5] Attendance was around 20,000–40,000 per match. There was unrest at some matches involving Australia: tear gas was deployed for the semi-final against Malaysia and security had to break up a brawl between the teams[7] and the team had rocks thrown at them after they beat the hosts; the vice-president of South Vietnam had promised his team a bonus at half-time to no avail.[4][6] The final nearly did not take place after Australian military personnel were kept from being spectators until the team threatened a boycott.[5] Despite the previous hostility, the local crowd supported Australia over South Korea in the final. The coach of the Australian team had agreed to let them keep their tracksuits if they won.[6]
The players complained about the food and conditions at their hotel, Caravelle Hotel also known as the Golden Building,[2] where all the teams stayed,[1][4] and one Australian player was non-fatally electrocuted by a power socket.[8] There may have been a foiled plot to bomb the building.[1][4] One of the New Zealand team fell ill and had to stay behind in hospital for three weeks when his team flew home.[4][1]
Australia
South Korea
South Vietnam
Malaysia
New Zealand
Singapore
Hong Kong
Thailand