HANOI: A group of brave Malaysian supporters including Ultras Malaya saved the wife of national coach Tan Cheng Hoe when she was trying to make her way into the My Dinh Stadium here on Saturday.
In the 7pm incident, Jocelyn Tan together with the family members of FA of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Amin were in a 16-seater van which rammed into a group of Vietnamese fans while they were stuck in the traffic congestion outside the stadium.
The incident occurred after the van they were traveling in failed to keep up with the out-riders, escorting the vehicle.
Recalling the incident, Jocelyn said a group of Ultras Malaya supporters protected the van from Vietnamese fans who were angry that the vehicle was blocking them from making their way into the stadium.
"I want to thank the Ultras Malaya for protecting us and also making sure we had a safe passage into the stadium. I felt very touched," said Jocelyn, who was accompanying her husband for the first time in an away tie.
"Although we were trapped for nearly 30 minutes, the Ultras Malaya made us feel safe."
Meanwhile, an Ultras Malaya member, Faizal Osman, said he tried to help the moment he knew Jocelyn was in the van along with Hamidin's family.
"When we knew the family of the FAM president was in the van, we immediately tried to keep the Vietnamese fans away from the vehicle.
"Lucky nobody was really injured. There was shoving and pushing and some even got hit by bottles.
"But we thought of it as our duty because they are our people, and what more if the family of the FAM president was inside the van as well. We tried to make way for them to travel into the stadium and in the end succeeded," said Faizal.
In the same incident, a Malaysian photographer suffered a RM800 loss when his equipment were damaged after being shoved by Vietnamese fans.
"When the incident took place I was near the van. It was messy and my flash was broken."