Thai newspaper fears Nguyen Xuan Son will make history; Haaland scores twice in Man City's victory

Thai newspaper fears Nguyen Xuan Son will make history at ASEAN Cup 2024

Thailand's Thairath newspaper pointed out thatNguyen Xuan Soncan set 2 records in ASEAN Cup 2024. The main striker of the Vietnamese team has scored 7 goals in ASEAN Cup 2024. With just 3 more goals, he can equal the achievement of Noh Alam Shah (Singapore), who holds the record for most goals scored in 1 ASEAN Cup. Specifically, Noh Alam Shah scored 10 goals in ASEAN Cup 2007.

In addition, Thairath newspaper said that Xuan Son is facing the opportunity to become the first Vietnamese player to exclusively win the title of Top Scorer at the ASEAN Cup 2024. Previously, Tien Linh shared the title of Top Scorer at the ASEAN Cup 2022 with Thai striker Teerasil Dangda when both scored 6 goals.

“Nguyen Xuan Son, 27 years old, has only played 4 matches at the ASEAN Cup 2024, starting from the last match of the group stage when the Vietnamese team beat Myanmar 5-0. However, he has scored 7 goals, currently leading the scoring list of the tournament,” Thairath newspaper admired Xuan Son's scoring ability.

“Can Xuan Son score more goals and set a new record? The answer will be in the second leg,” wrote Thairath.

The Thai newspaper also emphasized that the Vietnamese team has a chance to win the ASEAN Cup for the third time after 2008 and 2018. However, Thairath believes that the Thai team will try their best in the second leg of the 2024 ASEAN Cup final on January 5 after losing 1-2 in the first leg at Viet Tri Stadium on January 2.

Vietnam women's futsal in top 10 in two best events in the world

According to Futsal Planet, coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang and his team are in the top 10 nominees for the two categories of best women's futsal coach and best women's futsal team in the world.

With the prestigious futsal award categories of the 25th Futsal Planet website, Coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang has entered the top 10 best female futsal coaches in the world.

The Vietnamese strategist's competitors on the nomination list come from Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Iran, Italy...

In addition, his students also helped Vietnam women's futsal to be in the top 10 nominees for the best women's futsal team in the world. Putting Vietnam women's futsal on par with the women's teams of Aotearoa New Zealand, Brazil, U20 Colombia, Finland, Iran, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Uzbekistan. This category has appeared in the last 4 seasons with the two women's teams of Spain and Brazil both winning twice.

The good news above is thanks to the fact that the Vietnamese strategist and the "golden star" female warriors have brought the country's women's futsal team to 11th place in the world (FIFA rankings, updated October 2024).

This year, coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang and the Vietnamese women's futsal team achieved notable achievements such as the 2024 Southeast Asian Women's Championship (Thailand runner-up), the 2024 Thailand International Championship (host runner-up), and second place in the 2024 China International Championship.

In contrast to their female counterparts, the Vietnamese men's futsal team did not make much of an impression in 2024, so they were not nominated. However, two teams in Southeast Asia, the Thai and Indonesian futsal teams, are both in the top 10 nominees for the best futsal team in the world in 2024.

Indonesia wants to replace Mr. Shin Tae-yong with a European coach?

The future of strategist Shin Tae-yong is in big question after the failure of the Indonesian team at the ASEAN Cup 2024.

In fact, the team led by the Korean coach failed to pass the group stage, finishing behind both Vietnam and the Philippines.

Despite having great ambitions to participate in the 2026 World Cup, the failure at the ASEAN Cup made Indonesian football leaders unhappy.

In that context, the Italian newspaper Tuttosport revealed that the President of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) Erick Thohir wants to replace coach Shin Tae-yong with a strategist from Europe.

"The aim is to help Indonesian football win a ticket to the 2026 World Cup" - the Italian newspaper emphasized.

Bola (Indonesia) newspaper said that Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Dito Ariotedjo, is asking PSSI to report on the above information.

“It is certain that the Indonesian government always supports PSSI to accelerate the team's achievements,” Mr. Ariotedjo emphasized.

Meanwhile, assistant Nova Arianto - right-hand man of coach Shin Tae-yong said that he has not heard any discussion about the future of the Korean coach.

Haaland scored twice in Man City's 4-1 win

Hosting West Ham at home in round 20 of the Premier League, in the 10th minute, Man City took the lead after Savinho's shot deflected off Vladimir Coufal's foot, leaving goalkeeper Alphonse Areola helpless.

Despite the early goal, Man City still had to face dangerous counter-attacks from West Ham. However, the excellence of the defense and goalkeeper Ederson helped The Citizens maintain their lead.

In the 42nd minute, Erling Haaland doubled the gap for Man City with a close-range header after a pass from Savinho.

In the second half, Man City continued to dominate. Haaland completed his double in the 53rd minute after a beautiful combination with Savinho. After 4 scoreless matches, Haaland shined again with 3 goals in the last 2 matches, thereby narrowing the gap with Mohamed Salah in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot to 1 goal (16 compared to 17).

West Ham are also a favorite target for the former Dortmund star. Haaland has scored 10 goals in just 6 recent matches against the London opponent. Not stopping there, Phil Foden also got his name on the scoreboard in the 60th minute, raising the score to 4-0 for the home team.

West Ham only got a consolation goal in the 71st minute thanks to Niclas Fullkrug. However, this goal could not help "The Hammers" avoid a heavy defeat.

With this victory, Man City rose to 6th place in the Premier League table. Pep Guardiola's team gradually regained their form and determined to compete for a ticket to the Champions League next season, when they are only 2 points behind 4th place Chelsea. Meanwhile, West Ham continue to sink deeper into crisis with 13th place.

Italian tennis team stops at United Cup quarter-finals

The Czech Republic tennis team just created a huge surprise in the quarter-finals with a memorable victory over their opponent, the Italian tennis team.

After Karolina Muchová secured a crucial victory in her opening match against Jasmine Paolini in the Czech Republic-Italy quarter-final clash at this year's United Cup, Czech tennis fans were treated to yet another triumph as world No. 25 Tomas Machac put in a blistering performance against the much-fancied Flavio Cobolli.

In both sets, Tomas Machac showed complete dominance on the court, before winning with the difference of scores of 6-1 and 6-2. Winning 2-0 after only 53 minutes of play, Tomas Machac helped the Czech Republic tennis team overcome the Italian team to qualify for the semi-finals of the United Cup, in the next match, the Czech Republic's opponent will be the United States tennis team.