Today’s Saigon Times reports that the . Michael Smith reports below.

The Australian Rules football team, Vietnam Swans, celebrated their first ever tournament victory on Saturday night after beating all comers at the Indochina Cup earlier that day.

The Swans  were joined at an over 200 strong party at La Cantine Restaurant in Dong Khoi St, District 1 by Aussie football players from fellow Indochina Cup teams, the Laos Elephants, Thailand Tigers and Cambodian Cobras, plus the Swan’s sister team, the Saigon Shooters, who also won a same-day netball IndochinaCup, and women’s netball teams from Hanoi and Thailand.

At the after-match function Vietnam Swan’s captain, Luke Creamer, said the Australian football Indochina Cup win was, “Epic.”

It was a very hard-fought-for win with several injuries early in the day including a broken jaw, a concussion and a badly split lip.

Before the game started Australian Consul General in HCMC, Graeme Swift, held a minute’s silence for the hundreds of Cambodians, who died in last week’s bridge tragedy in Phnom Penh.

To read the rest of the story, click .

To read more press articles about the Vietnam Swans, click here.

In news just received from Matt’s wife Ros:

Matt’s op went really well, he can now open his mouth properly and his jaw is totally realigned. It took about 4 and a half hours. He is sitting up eating some ice cream and watching some TV.

We have had sooo many txt messages and emails, it is quite incredible.  Lucky I am here actually to do his admin duties!

Great news indeed.

In other news, Patto from the Thailand Tigers has already visited Matt in hospital. Another group of Tigers will visit him tomorrow.

That’s what Asian footy is all about.

The scores of the 2010 Indochina Cup, Saigon:

Round 1

• Vietnam Swans 3.5.23 def. Cambodian Cobras 1.5.11
• Lao Elephants 5.5.35 def. Thailand Tigers 1.3.9

Round 2

• Cambodian Cobras 5.5.35 def. Lao Elephants 2.2.14
• Vietnam Swans 10.6.66 def. Thailand Tigers 0.2.2

Round 3

• Cambodian Cobras 4.7.31 def. Thailand Tigers 3.1.19
• Vietnam Swans 4.6.30 def. Lao Elephants 3.0.18

The Ladder



Photos:

Ross McRae has very made some photos of the Indochina Cup celebrations at his .

Josh Little has forwarded half a dozen photos that are now on the .

Lots more photos and match reports coming.

On Saturday, in the opening minute of the first match, Matt Natalotto sustained a nasty injury that has sent him to Bangkok for surgery. Below he writes in to the Swannies website.

Congratulations on the great win Phil, Danny, Dez, Dukesy, Joshy and every single person involved.

The Swans definitely deserved it. So much hard work has gone into the team this year…and years past. I only see the team going on to greater things from here. 2011 will be huge! It was great to be a part of this ground breaking year even with it ending on a bad note for me personally.

Leaving the ground in an ambulance was a huge disappointment especially with my son there who was meant to be watching play in my last games – as I planned to hang up the boots after Saturday!

So now, as I sit here in a Bangkok hospital waiting for surgery to realign my eye socket, wire up my jaw and plate my cheek bone together I’m planning on continuing with the Swans at least to the ANZAC  match next year. Cant finish it like this.

All the Vietnam Swans and extended community are thinking of Matt and wish him a speedy recovery. The Thailand Tigers have said that they will visit Matt while he is in hospital over in Bangkok.

The Vietnam Swans have today won the 2010 Indochina Cup for the first time. The Vietnam Swans won all three matches in which they played against the Cambodian Cobras, Thailand Tigers and Lao Elephants.

Coach Josh and Skipper Dukes accepted the Cup on behalf of the team from the Australian Consul General to HCMC, Graeme Swift.

More to follow.

Vietnam Swans National President, Phil Johns provides the Welcome Address for this weekend’s 2010 Indochina Cup. (Click for the prepared by Ross McRae, Josh Little and the competing teams.)

Dear Players, Officials, Sponsors and Spectators

The Vietnam Swans are delighted to host the 2010 Annual Indochina Cup and tomorrow will warmly welcome you all to RMIT University’s magnificent facilities.

Last month, the Lao Elephants, Thailand Tigers and Vietnam Swans all played in the 11th Annual Asian Championships in Shanghai. Meanwhile, the newly formed Cambodian Cobras were bristling on the Phnom Penh sidelines planning their debut next year.

Tomorrow, we will play for the 4th (!) Annual Indochina Cup.

Before, a casual observer may have been dismissive of footy in Indochina. But not now. With the advent of a genuine footy team in Cambodia, tomorrow’s 4th Indochina Cup may well be described as the tournament’s Crystallizing Cup. We have history, direction and momentum. The 5th Indochina Cup, for example, has already been locked in to be played in land-locked Lao next November. Make no mistake, the Indochina Cup is fast becoming another major fixture on Asian footy’s increasingly busy calendar.

The Vietnam Swans enjoy a very special relationship with these teams. The Thailand Tigers played the then Hanoi Swans in our first tournament back in 2003 and invited us to their incredible 5th ANZAC Weekend in Kanchanaburi last year.

They also hosted the 8th Asian Championships in August, 2007 which was the stage for the debut of our new, national, Vietnam Swans team. Boosting our numbers that day were five guys from Lao and one from Cambodia. After the Champs, those five Lao guys formed their country’s first footy club, the Lao Elephants. Within three short months, the Tigers, Elephants and Swans found ourselves playing a tournament in Hanoi which would become known as the inaugural Indochina Cup.

In 2008, the one guy at the Champs who had played for us from Cambodia set up the Cambodian Kangas. And Phnom Penh hosted the 2nd Indochina Cup. Unfortunately, the Kangas were a one-jump wonder. However, four months ago, the Cambodians returned to international football, this time as the Cobras. And this time it smells very different. The Swannies have already played them twice and they are the real deal which makes for a very exciting addition to Asian football. It is tremendous to welcome Cambodia to their 2nd Indochina Cup.

Tomorrow will be a great day and a key reason for that is the Vietnam Swans National Sponsors – four of which I would like to specifically mention: Linfox, Pest Free and Jim Beam. They were with us when it especially mattered: at the beginning of our Club’s journey when they believed that our energy and smarts would grow a track record. The 4th, Coca Cola, has come in at the 11th hour to support our tournament with cases of Joy Water for the players.

The Vietnam Swans also congratulate the Saigon Shooters and the other netball teams which will compete in the Indochina Netball Cup this weekend.

On a reflective note, the Vietnam Swans will proudly wear black armbands in honour of Dave “Flyer” Kainey’s mother.

The Vietnam Swans look forward to mixing with you all over the weekend – and then again in Lao next November when we meet for the 5th Annual Indochina Cup.

If you love the footy at the 4th Indochina Cup, join millions of Vietnamese and honk yer horn.

Honk! Honk!

In today’s Saigon Times newspaper, Michael Smith reports on Saturday’s 2010 Indochina Cup that will be played in Saigon this weekend.

The Vietnam Swans Australian Football team is fired up for their first Indochina Cup victory this Saturday at the RMIT fields in District 7.

After winning two games at the Asian Football Championships in October the Swans are ready to end the season on a high note.

“We think we are in with a good chance, not underestimating the opposition, as they’ll be strong and fighting hard,” said Club President Phil Johns.

Johns said he thought the Cambodian Cobra’s were the major threat. “The Cambodians are a really good outfit and we saw a massive improvement last time we played them and there’s no reason that trend won’t continue.”

To read the rest of the article, click onto the link.

In today’s Saigon Times newspaper, Michael Smith reports on the upcoming Indochina Cup netball tournament that will be played  alongside the Aussie Rules tournament in Saigon this weekend.

The Saigon Shooters women’s netball team this Saturday, Nov.27, will be defending their Indochina Cup title against teams from Hanoi and Thailand at the AIS Sports Center Thao Dien Road District 2.

Club coordinator Fleur Limbrick said she was confident of defending the cup against the three visiting teams; Hanoi O’s, Thailand Tigers, and Bangkok Southerners.

“We have beaten all these teams before and we have two of our strongest teams ever to play in a tournament,” Limbrick said.

“We feel confident, but our hardest match so far has been against the Bangkok Southerners, so it could go either way,” she said.

To read the rest of the article, click .

In breaking news, the Vietnam Swans are delighted to announce that will be the Official Drinks Sponsor of the 2010 Indochina Cup.

The in kind sponsorship includes Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Samurai, Joy Water, Minute Maid juices and Milk.

Vietnam Swans National President, Phil Johns said, “The Vietnam Swans are extremely grateful for Coca Cola’s support of the 2010 Indochina Cup. We already know the incredible quality of Coca Cola’s products. Now we have seen first hand that Coca Cola’s responsiveness and generosity is just as outstanding. Thank you very much to Coca Cola”.

Coca Cola says that to open Coca Cola is to open happiness. On Saturday, all players and spectators at the Indochina Cup will get to see for themselves just how much happiness Coke is able to bottle in its amazing array of beverages.

Go and count the Coca Cola smiles!