YOU can usually tell how important an event is just by watching the people who react to it.

The sight of a photographer jumping for joy, his both hands in the air, after Le Cong Vinh scored Vietnam's winner in Sunday's Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup final said it all.

For a brief moment, lost in the sea of euphoria that surrounded the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi, he joined the millions of Vietnamese across the country in celebrating Vietnam's first Asean crown.

Work? Who cares!

The chance to have the picture you took published across the front pages of major newspapers? Not interested!

Yet Vietnam's win didn't just make Vietnamese all over the world happy.

For the neutral, the 1-1 result (Vietnam won the title 2-1 on aggregate) was the best possible result.

Good, because Vietnam were deserving champions, having played the the most compelling football of all the teams in the tournament.

They kept the ball on the ground, passed it around in a neat fashion even when supposedly more gifted teams such as Singapore and Thailand tend to opt for the long ball once too often.

Also because it a hectic tournament, which saw teams having to play three group matches in five days, Vietnam showed that it was possible to actually up their performance each match.

They were humbled 0-2 by Thailand in the group stages, yet turned the tables in the final.

Vietnam came away with victories at the National Stadium in Singapore (a 1-0 win in the second-leg semi-final) and the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok (a 2-1 win in the first-leg final), two venues which have traditionally favoured the host.

Vietnam's win will also do the nation's football plenty of good. Rocked by match-fixing scandals - both at the international and domestic levels - being champions of Asean will hopefully help shed a more positive light on the Vietnamese football. A new generation of young Vietnamese kids will now have sporting heroes like match-winner Cong Vinh to idolise, so important in developing nations such as Vietnam.

Yet more importantly, Vietnam's win can also do wonders for Asean football. With Thailand and Singapore the only winners in the six-edition old AFF Cup, Vietnam's win has added an added touch of rivalry to the mix.

Yes, the clashes between Singapore and Vietnam fans were uncalled for and should be condemned, but the next edition in 2009 will now be richer for the threat that Vietnam now poses as defending champions.

Your football is only as good as your competition, as the saying goes. Vietnam's win, the manner in which they showed the bigger boys of Asean football that attack is the best form of defence, will force teams to come back even stronger in 2009, and in turn raising the standard of the tournament.

Asean football can only be richer for that.