Vietnam women's volleyball team closes journey at World Championship; Indonesian naturalized star sets new record

Vietnam women's volleyball team closes journey at 2025 World Championship

On the afternoon of August 27 in Thailand, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team played the final match of Group G of the 2025 World Championship.

Despite entering the match with full determination, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's students could not create a surprise against the physically strong Kenyan opponent and accepted a 0-3 defeat (23-25, 22-25, 18-25), thereby officially ending their journey at the tournament with 3 consecutive losses.

Vietnam U16 women's tournament stops at the semi-finals, competes for third place in the 2025 Southeast Asian U16 Women's Tournament

On the afternoon of August 27, after losing to Thailand's U16 women's team 1-3 in the semi-final at Manahan Stadium (Indonesia), the Vietnam U16 women's team will enter the third-place match of the 2025 Southeast Asian U16 Women's Football Championship on August 29.

As expected, the Thai players entered the game quickly, constantly applying pressure. In the 6th minute, they took advantage of a chaotic situation in front of goalkeeper Cam My's goal to open the score 1-0.

Not willing to be outdone, the U16 women's players of Vietnam counterattacked and equalized in the 16th minute thanks to an own goal by Aunchidtha (number 17) after a chaotic situation in the penalty area.

However, at the end of the first half, the lack of concentration made the U16 women of Vietnam pay the price. In the 43rd minute, substitute player Monthida (number 16) raised the score to 2-1 for the U16 women of Thailand, before Charlotte (number 14) successfully finished, ending the first half with a difference of 3-1.

In the second half, the U16 women's team of Vietnam changed personnel in many positions to increase their attacking power. The players in red shirts had some remarkable coordination situations, but their finishing moves were not sharp enough to trouble goalkeeper Pimlapat. In the 80th minute, Trinh Yen Nhi (number 15) was brought in to strengthen the defense, but the game was still in favor of the team from the land of the golden pagoda.

Despite trying until the last minutes, coach Okiyama Masahiko's students could not create a surprise, had to accept a 1-3 loss and stopped at the semi-finals.

With this result, the Vietnam U16 women's team will compete for third place in the 2025 Southeast Asian U16 Women's Championship at 3:30 p.m. on August 29. Coach Okiyama and his team's opponent will be the losing team in the remaining semi-final match between host U16 women's team Indonesia and U16 women's team Australia.

Indonesian naturalized star sets new record

On the afternoon of August 27, naturalized midfielder of the Indonesian National Team - Thom Haye officially joined the Persib Bandung Club in the Indonesian National Championship.

Born in 1995 in the Netherlands, Thom Haye used to play for a number of Dutch clubs and was valued at a maximum of 3 million Euros when he joined the Indonesian National Team in March 2024.

Unable to find opportunities in the Netherlands and European leagues, Thom Haye chose to play in the Indonesian National Championship.

However, since then, this 187m tall midfielder has not played well at Almere City FC (Dutch First Division) and has continuously decreased in value.

However, with the current price of 1 million Euros, Thom Haye still sets a record as the player with the highest transfer price in the Indonesian National Championship in the 2025/26 season.

With the successful recruitment of Thom Haye, Persib Bandung Club increased the value of its squad to 5.49 million Euros, becoming the second most expensive team in the 2025/26 Indonesian National Championship, only after Persija Jakarta (6.23 million Euros).

Donnarumma stuck between PSG and Man City

Despite reaching a personal agreement with Manchester City, the Italian goalkeeper has yet to leave Paris as negotiations between PSG and the English team have reached a deadlock.

Coach Luis Enrique removed Donnarumma from his plans before the European Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur. The quiet farewell at Parc des Princes last weekend marked the end of the 26-year-old's turbulent four years at PSG. The capital club spent 40 million euros (possibly up to 55 million euros) to recruit Lucas Chevalier from Lille, and the young French goalkeeper will be the number one choice this season.

On the other hand, Man City is not ready to "take action". Pep Guardiola has James Trafford for 31 million Euros, and is only waiting for Ederson to complete the deal to Galatasaray before considering Donnarumma.

However, this process is quite slow, while the offer of less than 20 million Euros from Man City was rejected by PSG. The Ligue 1 champion confirmed that they only considered a minimum price of 30 million Euros.

With the French transfer market closing at 11pm next Monday, both PSG and Donnarumma want to quickly close the deal. However, if there is no turning point, the number 1 goalkeeper of the Italian team will likely have to accept being on the bench until January 2026 - a big risk for the ambition to keep his starting position at the World Cup.

Mainoo chooses new destination

According to The Athletic, Mainoo wants to play outside England instead of continuing to stay in the Premier League, and at the same time, MU can accept a price of around 45 million pounds or less for the deal. Mainoo has discussed the possibility of leaving with his teammates and is ready to accept a new challenge.

Mainoo missed out on playing time in the first two Premier League games of the season against Arsenal and Fulham, and pictures of Mainoo leaving Craven Cottage looking disappointed added to rumours of player discontent.

Big clubs like Chelsea, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are all interested in the 20-year-old midfielder. With the current situation, Mainoo is facing a big choice in his career, and negotiations are likely to take place in the remaining days of this summer transfer window.

Under Erik ten Hag, Mainoo was a shining gem, expected to become a pillar of MU and the England team. However, when Amorim took over, he fell out of favor. With the Portuguese strategist's favorite 3-4-2-1 formation, Mainoo was forced to compete directly with Bruno Fernandes - which was almost impossible.

Amorim said frankly: "Bruno and Kobbie play in the same position. At MU, he has to fight for his place, it's that simple."