Chinese newspaper comments on 5 suspended Vietnamese players; Ronaldo's dream of winning the national championship is shattered

Chinese newspaper comments on 5 suspended Vietnamese players

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Disciplinary Board on May 8 decided to ban five Ha Tinh FC players who are being investigated for organizing illegal drug use.

This group of players includes midfielder Dinh Thanh Trung, goalkeeper Duong Quang Tuan, midfielder Nguyen Trung Hoc, defenders Nguyen Ngoc Thang and Nguyen Van Truong.

This disciplinary sentence is applied in national football tournaments managed by VFF, and is effective until a replacement decision is made.

Regarding this event, China's New.QQ website had a commentary on Vietnamese football with the title: "Good news! 5 players who were opponents of the Chinese team were suspended indefinitely! Another hope for the World Cup".

This is a relatively surprising comment because the Vietnamese and Chinese teams are not in the same group in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, and the above group of players are not national team players at the present time.

"The Chinese team has just received a big benefit. Five players from China's important rivals have been suspended indefinitely.

In the World Cup qualifiers, China is currently ranked 2nd in Group C with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. If they win against Thailand in the next match, China will advance.

Asia has only 8.5 places to attend the 2026 World Cup. If China wants to attend the World Cup, it needs to compete with strong teams such as Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Australia.

Not to mention, teams in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam and Indonesia can also be a big threat to the Chinese team. Only when the Chinese team easily wins against teams like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia will they have more hope of participating in the World Cup.

So what will happen if the Chinese team meets the Vietnamese team in the third round of the World Cup qualifiers? Fortunately, 5 Vietnamese players have recently been suspended indefinitely after using banned substances and are currently in criminal detention.

Among these 5 players, except Dinh Thanh Trung, the remaining players are all young faces, of which 2 are considered to be at their peak. Even though Dinh Thanh Trung is 36 years old, his strength is still there.

The indefinite suspension of five players has dealt a heavy blow to Vietnamese football. If facing the Vietnamese team, which is losing troops in the third qualifying round of the World Cup, the Chinese team will most likely not lose but will get revenge on their opponents with a victory, adding hope to the World Cup" - New QQ page commented further.

Just left VFF, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan received a "special mission"

VFF recently approved coach Hoang Anh Tuan's personal wish to step down from his position as coach of the national youth teams.

The above information surprised fans, because the coach from Khanh Hoa province had completed the target assigned by VFF at the 2024 U23 Asian Cup in Qatar.

According to many sources, coach Hoang Anh Tuan is likely to lead his hometown team Khanh Hoa in the near future.

This is completely reasonable when he appeared in the stands in some recent matches of Khanh Hoa Club. The coach born in 1968 can play the role of advisor for his hometown team.

The 19/8 home team is currently led by Mr. Tran Trong Binh, a former student of Coach Hoang Anh Tuan. The team's performance in the V.League 2023-2024 has not been good recently. They are at the bottom of the rankings with only 10 points after 17 matches, 5 points behind Song Lam Nghe An, who are right above them.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan once led Khanh Hoa Club from 2007 to 2012. During his playing days, he was also an excellent central defender of the team from 1982 to 2003.

If he returns to lead the 19/8 home team, coach Hoang Anh Tuan will have to take on a "special mission" to help his hometown team successfully stay in the V.League 2023-2024.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan is considered one of the best domestic coaches today. His departure will force the VFF to urgently find someone to lead the U17 Vietnam team to the U17 Southeast Asian tournament in Indonesia next June and then the U20 Vietnam team.

Mbappe's shirt number revealed when joining Real Madrid

Mbappe has just announced his departure from PSG after 7 years of association, to join the Royal team Real Madrid. This was the dream destination when this striker was still a boy.

Although this deal shook the transfer market, Real did not lose any money because Mbappe left PSG as a free agent. The 25-year-old striker signed a preliminary 5-year contract with Real in February this year.

According to plan, France's number 1 striker will officially join Real in July, after EURO 2024.

Wearing the White Vulture shirt, Mbappe will initially not be able to wear one of his two favorite shirt numbers, 7 and 10. Vinicius Junior is wearing number 7, while Luka Modric wears number 10, but the Croatian midfielder is preparing to extend his contract for another year.

Therefore, Mbappe will choose the number 9 shirt left by his compatriot Benzema. 9 is also the number that Cristiano Ronaldo wore at Real in his first year, before switching to number 7.

During his career, Mbappe wore the number 9 shirt at Monaco in the 2016/17 season.

Ronaldo's dream of winning the national championship is shattered

On the night of May 11, Al Hilal became the new king of the Saudi Arabian National Championship after a 4-1 victory over Al Hazem in round 41.

3 points at home helped Al Hilal win the title 3 rounds early. At this time, Malcom and his teammates are 12 points ahead of the 2nd place team, Al Nassr. With 3 matches left to play, Al Nassr cannot catch up with their city rivals.

Al Hilal won their 19th national championship in history. Meanwhile, Al Nassr finished second in the SPL for the second consecutive season. Ronaldo and his teammates paid a heavy price for putting too much effort into the Arab Cup friendly at the beginning of the season, only to perform poorly in the early stages of the SPL 2023/24.

In addition, the two losses when facing Al Hilal directly this season were also the main reason why Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates had to accept the runner-up position.

Al Nassr has recruited superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and a series of "satellites" to serve the former Man Utd star, but still cannot win the SPL championship after 5 years of waiting.

Al Hilal have won the Super Cup, Saudi Pro League and are on the verge of ending Ronaldo’s dream of winning his first title in the Middle East. On June 1, the two top Saudi Arabian clubs will meet in the King’s Cup final.

If Al Hilal win, Neymar will have his third title with Al Hilal, despite missing most of the season due to injury. Meanwhile, Ronaldo will regret having a second consecutive season without a trophy, despite maintaining his good form with 48 goals in just 47 appearances.

Nadal stopped at round 2 of Rome Masters, refused farewell ceremony

Rafael Nadal stopped after two rounds at the Rome Masters when he was overwhelmed by Hubert Hurkacz with a score of 2-0 on the evening of May 11.

In this match, Hurkacz (world No. 9) completely overwhelmed Nadal with a score of 2-0 (6-1, 6-3) after two sets in the second round of the Rome Masters. This was also the first encounter of the Spanish tennis player with a tennis player in the top 10 after 18 months.

When asked about the problem in this defeat, Nadal said his mind was not clear and if forced to say how he felt, he wanted to go to Roland Garros and test himself.

After this defeat, Nadal also refused the farewell ceremony of the Rome Masters Organizing Committee for him, saying that the possibility of the next season is only "98% certain, not 100%" without competing at Campo Centrale - where he tried to surpass the record of 10 championships.

Now, the 37-year-old tennis player will have to practice and prepare for the Roland Garros tournament starting on May 26.