Arsenal dropped the victory, giving the cup to Liverpool; Thailand changed the SEA Games rules, is U22 Vietnam benefiting or losing?

Arsenal drop victory, give cup to Liverpool

Held to a 2-2 draw at home by Crystal Palace, Arsenal "raised the white flag" as Liverpool prepared to step up to the 2024/25 Premier League championship, the match taking place in the early morning of April 24.

In the 3rd minute, Kiwior headed the opening goal for the Gunners. In the 27th minute, Eze volleyed classy from the edge of the box to equalize for Palace. At the end of the first half, Trossard helped Arsenal take a 2-1 lead. The first 45 minutes ended with the score 2-1 in favor of Arsenal.

In the second half, Crystal Palace rose up to attack and created many opportunities. Their efforts were rewarded in the 83rd minute, Mateta took full advantage of Saliba's mistake to tie the score 2-2.

With Arsenal drawing 2-2 in the early game, Liverpool only need to win 1 more point from the remaining 5 matches to be crowned Premier League 2024/25.

Vinicius is investigated by FIFA, risking a 2-year suspension

Vinicius Jr, one of Real Madrid's biggest stars and a mainstay of the Brazilian national team, is under formal investigation by FIFA's Ethics Committee and risks a two-year ban from all football activity if found to have breached club ownership rules.

The case stems from a complaint filed on April 7 by Tiberis Holding do Brasil, a Brazilian company that alleges that Vinicius - through a company linked to his father and agent Thassilo Soares - has direct or indirect stakes in professional football clubs, which is prohibited under FIFA's Code of Ethics.

Tiberis alleges that the Real Madrid winger had links to Athletic Club de Sao Joao del Rei (Brazil) and Alercom (a Portuguese second division club). The company said it was denied preemptive rights to buy Athletic's shares, which were later sold to an entity linked to Vinicius.

FIFA regulations are very clear and strict in such cases. According to Article 20 of the FIFA Code of Ethics and Article 22 of the Spanish Sports Code: “A player may not directly or indirectly own shares in professional football clubs at national or international level if there is any risk of a conflict of interest”.

If the Ethics Committee determines that this rule has been violated, Vinicius Jr could be suspended for up to two years – a major blow to both Real Madrid and the Brazil national team, especially with major tournaments looming.

Thailand changes SEA Games rules, does U22 Vietnam benefit or lose?

On April 23, the media in the Land of Golden Pagodas reported that Thailand used its hosting rights to propose amending the regulations, bringing about the biggest change in the history of the football tournament.

Accordingly, in men's football, 11 teams will be divided into 3 groups (including one group of 3 teams, two groups of 4 teams), instead of 2 groups as usual in previous congresses. This, according to the host, is to reduce the number of matches, competition density, avoid player exhaustion, and minimize the risk of injury.

However, the 3-group division plan increases the level of competition and the risk of elimination for participating teams, as only the 3 group winners and the 1 second-placed team with the best record will have tickets to the semi-finals.

To reach the semi-finals, teams only have to play a maximum of 2 matches (for groups of 3 teams) or 3 matches (for groups of 4 teams), a "misstep" can be very costly. As for the second-placed teams in groups of 4 teams, when considering the play-off ticket, the results of the matches against the bottom team will be ignored.

In general, the new format proposed by Thailand helps players avoid exhaustion, but also poses the risk of elimination for championship candidates, including the Vietnamese team.

In addition to the format change, host Thailand re-applies the age limit regulation for men's football.SEA Games 33Accordingly, teams are only allowed to use players aged 22 and under (U22). Currently, the above proposals from Thailand are awaiting approval from the Asian Football Confederation. And if nothing changes, this will be the official regulation of SEA Games 33 football.

Nguyen Xuan Son will "sit still" for 8 months

According to Prof. Dr. Tran Trung Dung - the person who directly performed the surgery and monitored the recovery process, Nguyen Xuan Son needs about 7-8 more months to be truly ready to compete at the highest level.

After more than three months of injury treatment, striker Nguyen Xuan Son has returned to Nam Dinh Green Steel to enter the recovery phase. Currently, Xuan Son has completed the treatment phase at Vinmec Hospital and returned to his home team to continue rehabilitation training. Once a month from now until November, he will go to Hanoi for a check-up and a thorough assessment of his recovery progress.

The Brazilian is now able to walk normally and do light exercises in the gym and could return to ball training and increase the intensity of his training to heavy strength exercises in the next two months.

According to Dr. Dung, Xuan Son's ability to return to his peak depends on many factors, from recovery regimen, nutrition to the body's ability to respond.

This also means that Xuan Son will miss many matches in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup in the Vietnamese national team as well as many matches in the 2024/25 V-League in the Nam Dinh Green Steel Club squad.

However, if he recovers well, Xuan Son still has enough time to regain his best playing form before returning to work.Vietnam teamhost Malaysia in the final match of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers (March 2026).

Vietnam to host 3 major women's football tournaments in 2025

2025 promises to be a landmark year for Vietnamese women's football as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) have officially confirmed that Vietnam will host three major women's football tournaments in 2025.

According to information from the Vietnam Football Federation, in 2025, Vietnamese women's football will host three important tournaments including: the 2026 Asian Women's Championship qualifiers (Group E); the Southeast Asian U19 Women's Championship and the 2026 Asian U20 Women's Championship qualifiers.

The 2026 AFC Women's Championship qualifiers (Group E) will take place from June 29 to July 5 at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho), with the participation of the Vietnamese women's team and the UAE, Guam and Maldives. The home field advantage will be the motivation for Coach Mai Duc Chung and his team to be determined to win a ticket to the next round.

The 2025 Southeast Asian Women's U19 Championship is organized by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation (HFF). The tournament takes place from June 9 to June 18 at Thong Nhat Stadium, District 8 Stadium and Phu Tho Stadium.

The 2025 AFC U20 Women's Championship qualifiers will take place from August 2 to August 10 in Hanoi. The draw results will be announced by AFC on April 28./.