Indonesian newspaper warns home team about Tien Linh; Ronaldo and Messi are eliminated from national team

Ronaldo and Messi were eliminated from the national team

The Argentina team has removed Messi from the list of players called up for the upcoming friendly matches in Philadelphia and Los Angeles (USA).

Argentina captain Messi will not be able to be in the squad for the friendly matches in the US due to a minor hamstring injury in his right leg during InterMiami FC's match against Nashville SC" - the Argentina team's social media page shared.

In the match against Nashville SC, Messi felt discomfort in the muscle shortly after the start of the second half against Nashville on March 8 and was sent off the field after signaling that he wanted to be substituted.

The absence is not too important, as the two matches at the end of March are both friendly matches and do not matter in terms of results. This is also an opportunity for Messi to have more time to recover before entering the international tournament in April.

In another development, to prepare for the match with Sweden, coach Roberto Martinez included Ronaldo in the preliminary squad of 32 players of the Portuguese team. However, the Spanish coach decided to remove Ronaldo's name at the last minute.

Indonesian team receives difficult task from Football Federation President

The big match between Indonesia and Vietnam will begin on the evening of March 21. This match will decide the chances of both teams advancing as they showed that they are not capable of stopping Iraq. Vietnam lost 0-1 at home while Indonesia was defeated 1-5 in Basra.

With Iraq almost certain to lead Group F and advance to the third qualifying round, the remaining spot depends on the match between Vietnam and Indonesia. At this time, coach Shin Tae-yong's team only has 1 point and is even at the bottom of the table due to being behind the Philippines in terms of additional index.

That means they need to get at least 4 points against Vietnam to overtake their opponents. But according to President Erick Thohir, the pressure on Garuda is even greater as he needs 6 points.

Before the match, President of the Indonesian Football Federation, Erick Thohir, said: “The two matches with Vietnam are very important for Indonesia. Last night, I personally witnessed the players practicing actively. I believe that the players, coaching staff and team officials are ready. Because the next two matches are very important. If we can come back to win all the points (6), we will advance to the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. Therefore, everyone must give their all, because this is our common dream, right?”.

South Korea beefs up security for Baseball Opening Ceremony after bomb threat

South Korean police said they searched Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul after receiving a report of an email threatening a bomb attack during the Major League Baseball (MLB) Opening Ceremony at the stadium.

After the search, the Guro District Police Office announced that no explosives or any suspicious objects were found at the Gocheok Sky Dome.

Earlier, Yonhap news agency reported that Korean authorities received a report from an employee at the Korean Consulate General in Vancouver, Canada.

The employee said he received an email written in English threatening to detonate a bomb during a game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers, targeting Japanese star player Shohei Ohtani and other players.

Police are searching for the email sender and have deployed 30 commandos and 120 officers to search the stadium.

Indonesian newspaper warns home team about Tien Linh

On the evening of March 21, the Vietnamese team will play away at Indonesia in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Before this match, Bola newspaper had an analysis article warning the home team about striker Tien Linh with the title: "Horrifying statistics about the Vietnamese striker who likes to score against the Indonesian team".

"Nguyen Tien Linh will be the mainstay of the Vietnamese team in the match against the Indonesian national team. He is not afraid of the news about the naturalization of Garuda players," wrote Bola newspaper.

"B.Binh Duong's players are very confident going into this match. Moreover, they have good capital to be able to score against the Indonesian national team."

According to Bola, Tien Linh has faced Indonesia 5 times and scored 4 goals: "The Vietnamese team has a record of 8 years without losing to Indonesia until 2023. And Tien Linh is one of the most successful players in scoring goals."

"He scored against the Indonesian team in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup and the semi-finals of the 2022 AFF Cup. Nguyen Tien Linh was also the player who defeated the Indonesian team in the semi-finals of the 2022 AFF Cup. After a 0-0 draw in the first leg, Vietnam won 2-0 in the second leg, all goals were scored by Nguyen Tien Linh," Bola added./.