Balotelli mistakenly punches club director; Mbappe shines in EURO qualifiers

Balotelli mistakenly punched the director of his home club

According toBolaIn February, Mario Balotelli was taken to a party by Barthelemy Constantin, Sion's sporting director. Balotelli was disguised to avoid being recognized. However, a guest still discovered the presence of the "Bad Boy" and continuously took pictures without his consent.

The guest's actions sparked a fight. Director Constantin tried to intervene but was punched by Balotelli. "Balotelli dressed as Pikachu and hit the guest, knocking him to the ground. Constantin rushed to intervene and was punched in the face. The next day, Sion's sporting director appeared with a swollen eye,"Boladescribe.

Balotelli appeared dapper as a guest at the 2022/23 Champions League final.

At 33, Balotelli's career is still full of ups and downs. After leaving Adana Demirspor last year, the player joined Sion for 2.6 million euros. Balotelli's lackluster performances and lack of discipline exceeded the tolerance limit of Sion fans. Previously, the former Man City star was discovered hanging out with a woman at a bar while the team was practicing for the match. Sion tried to protect the player born in 1990 by announcing that he had bronchitis and could not play.

Mbappe shines in EURO qualifiers

Against the opponent ranked 201st in the world, France created a one-sided game and only needed 3 minutes to open the score. From Kingsley Coman's cross, Olivier Giroud headed the ball strongly, giving the goalkeeper no chance to block.

Giroud continued to increase his best scoring record in the history of the French national team (53 goals), and at the same time equaled Thierry Henry's appearance record for "Les Bleus" (both 123 matches).

Mbappe wears the captain's armband of the French team for the first time.

In his first match as captain of the French national team, Kylian Mbappe played with great energy. The striker born in 1998 was given a lot of the ball, but was unlucky in front of an open goal.

After two missed chances, Mbappe finally made his mark as the first half entered stoppage time. The PSG star earned a penalty and converted it to help France go into the break with a two-goal advantage.

In the second half, France continued to play half-court. In the 78th minute, Aymen Mouelhi fumbled an own goal after Mbappe's cross from the sideline. The match at the Algarve stadium ended with a 3-0 victory for France. Mbappe and his teammates maintained the top position in Group B with 9 points. In the next round, "Les Bleus" will meet Greece.

V-League 2023 may have time to test VAR

On the afternoon of June 16, Mr. Tran Anh Tu - Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) - informed that FIFA has approved two VAR cars prepared by Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) for the V-League.

"We have just received an email from FIFA approving two VAR vehicles that meet the technical standards to serve the match. In terms of personnel, we have 18 VAR referees who have completed centralized training courses in the past. They are also waiting for the scoring results from FIFA to be recognized as qualified to practice VAR," said Mr. Tran Anh Tu.

VFF Vice President Tran Anh Tu informed about VAR at a press conference on June 16. Photo: HT

The VFF representative also said that the two VAR vehicles are converted vehicles, so they must complete the registration procedure before they can be put into use.

If everything goes smoothly, VFF and VPF plan to soon test VAR in the final rounds of V-League 2023 in August. In addition, two more VAR vehicles are also being prepared to be put into use in time.

"We are working hard so that VAR can be applied soon, providing maximum support to referees in the V-League. However, we also want to warn everyone that VAR cannot eliminate all errors. World football has also argued many times because of VAR. However, we still hope that VAR will minimize errors to make the tournament more attractive," Mr. Tran Anh Tu shared.