Vietnamese fan impresses Arsenal players after a five mile pursuit
Vu Xuan Tien was seen chasing the team bus in Hanoi and was cheered by the Arsenal players before they stopped to call him on board.
He ran alongside Arsenal's team bus for over eight kilometers - smiling and cheering his heroes. Such was the enthusiasm of this Vietnamese fan that the players stopped the bus, invited him in and signed his shirt!
Arsenal players were in Hanoi on Wednesday as part of their pre-season Asian Tour and their huge fan base here was epitomised by 20-year-old Vu Xuan Tien who, according to a BBC report, swerved and swayed his way past the traffic to keep up with the team bus.
The players noticed Tien running along with the bus and they cheered him with chants of "sign him up, sign him up" before eventually calling him on board - a dream come true for the fan. "When I got on board the coach and saw the manager Arsene Wenger and the footballers cheering me, I was very happy. I was surprised by the friendliness they showed towards their fans," he was quoted as telling BBC's Vietnamese Service.
Arsenal played the national football team and registered a thumping 7-1 win in front of a packed stadium. Tien though was supporting both sides. "I will cheer both teams... but I will give a bit more to Vietnam," he had said before the start of the match, although he added that he has been an Arsenal fan all his life.