Indonesian newspaper warns home team to be careful with Vietnam team; Haaland disillusioned by Mbappe

Ba Ria - Vung Tau football team requests to stop competing in the 2024-2025 season

On June 8, speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper, a leader of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province confirmed that Ba Ria - Vung Tau Football Joint Stock Company (the parent company of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Football Club) had submitted a document to the Provincial People's Committee, proposing not to register to compete from the 2024-2025 season.

One of the reasons for stopping the competition is that the team does not have enough funds to operate, and they asked the local authorities to create favorable conditions and support.

Regarding this issue, the Provincial People's Committee has issued a document directing the Department of Culture and Sports to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies and units to work with Ba Ria - Vung Tau Football Joint Stock Company to grasp information and find solutions to advise the Provincial People's Committee for consideration.

Previously, the Department of Culture and Sports did not manage the activities of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau football team, but only supervised its professional aspects. The team's activities followed the plan of the managing unit, which was an enterprise, registered at the Department of Planning and Investment.

"The Department has invited the business to work and gather information, but the representative is currently not present in the locality. It is expected that the parties will meet and discuss next week," said a leader of the Department of Culture and Sports.

According to records, since 2022, Ba Ria - Vung Tau football team has been involved in many scandals regarding unpaid bonuses and signing bonuses for players; and this continues until 2023.

Recently, on June 6, 2024, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Police arrested 6 players of the football team to investigate the acts of "gambling" and "organizing gambling" that took place in a number of matches.

According to the investigation agency, these players had discussed playing below their ability in some matches, with the aim of receiving money; or betting on the other team to win on football betting websites for profit.

Haaland disillusioned with Mbappe

AS reported that the "Los Blancos" leadership almost gave up on the Haaland deal, after successfully recruiting Mbappe. The current salary fund and personnel situation at Real after the Mbappe deal, does not allow the Madrid club to add an expensive striker like Haaland in the future.

The Norwegian striker has long been a target for Real. Real President Florentino Perez even planned to recruit both Haaland and Mbappe from 2022.

However, the current situation at the Bernabeu club has changed the plan with Haaland. In addition to Mbappe, Real has completed the Endrick deal. The young Brazilian striker will join his compatriots Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo at the Spanish capital club.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti's squad, which already has a formidable attack this season, will be even stronger with the addition of Mbappe and Endrick, two strikers who can play both centrally and on the wing.

Mbappe, Endrick, Vinicius, and Rodrygo are all young and capable of contributing to "Los Blancos" for at least 5 more years. This makes it impossible for Real to spend a large amount of money on Haaland.

Missing many opportunities, U19 Vietnam lost narrowly to Korea

The Vietnam U19 team suffered their second consecutive loss in an international friendly tournament held in China on the evening of June 8.

Against U19 Korea, coach Hua Hien Vinh and his team played confidently and created many opportunities on the opponent's goal. However, Le Dinh Long Vu and Huynh Trieu could not take advantage of the opportunities or were blocked by the U19 Korea goalkeeper.

In the 25th minute, the U19 Vietnam net suddenly shook when from a free kick on the right wing, Jin Jun Seo jumped high to head the ball to open the score. In the remaining time of the first half, U19 Vietnam continued to play confidently despite being behind but did not score any goals.

After the break, U19 Vietnam continued to create notable situations on the goal of U19 Korea. However, the strikers of coach Hua Hien Vinh still missed many opportunities. The U19 Korea goalkeeper with impressive height had many timely saves.

The last notable move took place in the 82nd minute. On a corner kick, captain Cong Phuong crossed the ball into the penalty area for his teammate to head powerfully, but the U19 Korean goalkeeper continued to make an excellent save.

In the end, U19 Vietnam lost 0-1 to South Korea and had their second loss in the international friendly tournament.

The Vietnam U19 team will have one final match in the tournament on June 10 against Uzbekistan.

Indonesian newspaper warns home team to be careful with Vietnam team

Indonesia team be careful, Vietnam team is watching as the second round of World Cup 2026 qualifiers stipulates a new way of calculating rankings with goal difference being put first.

That is the warning of Bola (Indonesia) when coach Shin Tae-yong and his team still do not have tickets to the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Bola wrote: "The Indonesian team needs to be vigilant. Because the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers calculates goal difference first, not head-to-head if two teams have the same number of points."

Bola newspaper pointed out what coach Shin Tae-yong and his team must be wary of before coach Kim Sang-sik and his team. If the Indonesian team loses to the Philippines and the Vietnamese team can draw with Iraq, both teams will have 7 points.

If Indonesia (with a goal difference of -2) loses to the Philippines, and Vietnam (also with a goal difference of -2) draws with Iraq, then Indonesia and Vietnam will have 7 points each and coach Kim Sang-sik's team will be ranked above coach Shin Tae-yong's team due to a better goal difference. That means Vietnam will surpass Indonesia to take second place in Group F to advance to the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with Iraq.

In another case, if Indonesia draws with the Philippines, Vietnam must beat Iraq to advance. In theory, Indonesia can easily beat the Philippines and Iraq is still too superior to Vietnam.

However, in order not to depend on the result of the match between Iraq and Vietnam, the Indonesian team must defeat the Philippines to secure a place in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, at which point Indonesia will not need to care about the result of the match between Vietnam and Iraq. That means Indonesia holds the right to self-determination and only needs to beat the Philippines to qualify./.