Fans left fuming as Denilson sits out match

Livid Vietnamese football fans burned stadium seats and newspapers after their team’s loss Saturday as new Brazilian superstar signing Denilson sat inactive in the stands.

More than an hour before the game began, 30,000 supporters had filled Lach Tray stadium eager to see the 31-year-old Brazilian make his debut for the home team but they were disappointed when he was left off the teamsheet.

“Denilson, go home!” some of them shouted after Hai Phong Cement Football Club lost 2-0 to league-leading Danang City.

Smoke rose over the stadium in this northeastern port city and firefighters, who had been on standby, climbed into the stands to douse the blazes.

The fans, notorious for their aggressive behaviour, had already been throwing water bottles and other objects throughout the match.

Hai Phong Cement said Denilson, a member of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning squad and once the world’s most expensive footballer, signed with them during the week.

“I arrived one week ago and will train more,” Denilson told AFP from his seat in the stands shortly before his team took the field to start the second half of the V-League season.

But one fan, Pham Binh Cuong, 35, said he was “very unhappy” that the Brazilian would sit out the game.

Cuong said he had come to watch him play “because he is one of the world’s most famous footballers.”

Pham Quoc Duc, 30, who described himself as a diehard fan, said he would have come anyway but was curious about the club’s star signing.

The Brazilian told AFP through a translator that he would play “after 10 days.”

Asked whether the fans would be disappointed at his no-show Saturday, he said only: “I will play for this team.”

Denilson declined to reveal his salary but said it is less than the 40,000-50,000 US dollars a month reported by unnamed sources in local media.

African, European, Asian and even other Brazilian players have become common on Vietnamese football teams but a World Cup winner of Denilson’s stature is a rarity.

Mid-ranked Hai Phong Cement said Denilson, who became the world’s most expensive player when he moved to Spanish side Real Betis from Sao Paulo in 1998, was the most famous international footballer recruited so far by a Vietnamese outfit.

Earlier this year Denilson was on trial with English Premier League side Bolton Wanderers.

His absence from Saturday’s line-up did not come as a complete surprise as he was quoted Saturday by Tuoi Tre newspaper as saying he was not sure he would play.

Organisers said ticket prices for Saturday’s match had been significantly increased compared with earlier in the season.