ASEAN Cup will be an official FIFA tournament; MU collapsed at Old Trafford

ASEAN Cup is "elevated" to become an official FIFA tournament

FIFA has just made an important announcement to the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) about the ASEAN Cup being recognized as an official FIFA tournament from the 2024 edition. Even the matches in the region's number 1 football tournament are classified as category A, which means they are on par with matches in the qualifying round, World Cup finals and other continental and world tournaments.

This is really good news for AFF as well as ASEAN Cup when the number 1 football tournament in the region is upgraded, after nearly 30 years of being organized under many different names such as Tiger Cup, ASEAN Cup and most recently ASEAN Cup.

Being an official FIFA tournament means that teams have the right to call up players who are playing at club level. This is an advantage for teams like Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia... as they have many players playing abroad.

However, currently all teams have finalized the official list to participate in the ASEAN Cup 2024, so there will certainly be no change in the force, instead each team will receive higher points for each win, thereby improving on the FIFA rankings.

If Vietnam gets good results in the ASEAN Cup 2024, the team will have a chance to move up the FIFA rankings. Currently, coach Kim Sang Sik's team is ranked 116th in the world, 19 places behind the top team in Southeast Asia, Thailand (97th).

Vietnam team is twice as expensive as Indonesia at ASEAN Cup 2024

According to Transfermarkt, the total value of the squadVietnam teamat ASEAN Cup 2024 is 7.25 million euros, ranked 2nd in the tournament.

Among the 26 names called up by coach Kim Sang-sik this time, goalkeeper Nguyen Filip is the one with the highest value (550,000 euros).

Right after the goalkeeper of Hanoi Police Club is Nguyen Xuan Son (500,000 euros), Hoang Duc and Tuan Hai (both 400,000 euros).

Notably, the total value of the Vietnamese team's squad at the ASEAN Cup 2024 is twice as high as that of Indonesia (3.48 million euros).

But you must know, Indonesia only brought young players to this tournament so the value of their squad has decreased sharply.

Thailand is the team with the highest total squad value at the ASEAN Cup 2024 with 7.35 million euros.

The next positions in this ranking are Malaysia (3rd place - 3.75 million euros), Philippines (5th place - 3.05 million euros), Singapore (6th place - 3.03 million euros), Cambodia (7th place - 2.95 million euros), Myanmar (8th place - 2.05 million euros), Laos (9th place - 2 million euros) and East Timor (10th place - 1.14 million euros).

At the ASEAN Cup 2024, Vietnam is in Group B with Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Myanmar. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will play their opening match against Laos on December 9.

Disastrous defense causes MU to collapse at Old Trafford

Early morning of December 8, defensive errors caused MU to lose 2-3 to Nottingham in round 15 of the Premier League.

In the second minute, Nikola Milenkovic headed the ball into the home team's net from a corner kick. MU's set-piece defense is really having problems. All 3 recent goals conceded by the Old Trafford team came from corner kicks. Nottingham followed Arsenal's attacking play and quickly took the advantage.

In the first goal, Lisandro Martinez, a 1.75m tall center back, was assigned to mark Nikola Milenkovic. The former Ajax player had absolutely no chance of winning when his 1.95m tall opponent jumped up.

Not long after, MU responded with a move up the left wing. The ball was passed inside but Hojlund could not create a cut-off point in front of the goal.

In the following minutes, MU pushed up their formation and put pressure on the home team, but their finishing efforts could not overcome the crowded defense that was blocking goalkeeper Sels' goal.

The home side's attacking efforts were rewarded with a goal in the 18th minute. After a central combination, the ball was passed to Garnacho but the young Argentine star could not take advantage. The ball bounced right into Hojlund's path. His task was just to shoot into Nottingham's net from a good position. Hojlund scored his second Premier League goal this season after 10 appearances.

The first half ended in a draw. Nottingham only had 27% possession but still knew how to cause a lot of trouble for the home team with high balls.

Bruno Fernandes made a mistake less than 2 minutes into the second half. The 1994-born midfielder's bad pass allowed Gibbs-White to unleash a powerful shot from outside the box, leaving Onana no chance to block it.

In the 54th minute, MU conceded the third goal, again from a high ball situation. Yoro could not beat Chris Wood in the aerial battle. The away team's striker's header sent the ball into the far corner of the goal, leaving the red shirt defenders helpless.

In a difficult match, Amad became the factor that helped MU make a difference. After trying to dribble the ball on the right wing, the Ivorian player opened up an opportunity for Bruno in the 62nd minute. The number 8 midfielder did not let his teammate down by turning and finishing, sending the ball into the far corner of Nottingham's goal.

After conceding the second goal, the away team retreated to their home field to defend. MU held the ball but could not find an attacking plan. With Dalot, all attacks on the left wing of the home team became harmless. Except for Amad and Rashford's blocked shots in the 87th and 90+5th minutes, the home team had no significant chances, thereby accepting their first defeat at home to Nottingham in 20 years.

This result leaves the "Red Devils" deep in the bottom half of the rankings with 19 points. Meanwhile, Nottingham flies high in 5th place with 25 points.

Premier League star hospitalized after traffic accident

On the night of December 7 (Hanoi time), West Ham confirmed that West Ham United striker Michail Antonio had a traffic accident in the Essex area.

This incident caused a lot of concern for fans, especially when images of Antonio's badly damaged Ferrari appeared on social networks.

By the early morning of December 8, the London club announced that Antonio was fortunately not in danger of life. He is in a stable condition, conscious and able to communicate with his family. However, the striker born in 1990 still needs to stay in the hospital for further monitoring.

"We hope Antonio and his family get through this difficult time," the London Olympic Stadium club said.

Antonio's former club Nottingham Forest also sent their support to the Jamaican striker. Fulham and Bournemouth also sent their best wishes to Antonio, hoping for a speedy recovery.

Michail Antonio, 34, has been a key player for West Ham in recent seasons. In the Premier League, Antonio has scored 68 goals for West Ham, surpassing the legendary Paolo Di Canio to become the club's all-time top scorer in the top flight.

Antonio is known as a top striker in the Premier League. At the peak of his career, Antonio hoped to be called up to the England team but was ignored. In 2021, the 34-year-old striker decided to join the Jamaica national team. He has played more than 20 times for the Jamaica national team and scored 5 goals.

Mbappe scores, Real breathes hot air on Barca

Early morning of December 8 (Hanoi time), Real Madrid defeated host Girona 3-0 in round 16 of La Liga.

Away from home, Real Madrid had a hard time against Girona's confident play. With Vinicius absent and Kylian Mbappe closely monitored, Jude Bellingham once again shone to help Real break the deadlock. In the 36th minute, the English midfielder took advantage of a messy ball to swing his foot to score a dangerous shot, opening the score for the defending La Liga champions.

When the second half had just started for 10 minutes, Bellingham made his mark again with a through ball for Arda Guler to break through and shoot diagonally, doubling the gap.

In the 62nd minute, Mbappe also spoke up with a run and a shot from a narrow angle, bringing the third goal for the away team. Not long before, the striker born in 1998 received a lot of criticism for missing a chance to face the goalkeeper.

Mbappe has contributed to 10 goals for Real Madrid in 15 appearances, in La Liga alone this season (9 goals, 1 assist). Despite not being in the best form, the French striker still receives absolute trust from coach Carlo Ancelotti.

3 points at Montilivi Stadium helped Real Madrid narrow the gap with Barcelona to just 2 points. Coach Carlo Ancelotti and his team still have a game in hand.