Binh Dinh Club relegated, SHB Da Nang plays play-off; MU's rival in Emiliano Martinez deal

Binh Dinh Club relegated, SHB Da Nang plays play-off

With the loss to Hanoi in round 26 of V.League 2024/25, Binh Dinh Club will be relegated to the First Division next season, while SHB Da Nang will play the play-off match after winning.Lam River Nghe Anafternoon of June 22.

The matches of round 26 of V.League 2024/25 will all take place at 5:00 p.m. on June 22. With a 2-4 defeat to Hanoi at home, Binh Dinh Club officially had to say goodbye to V.League after 5 seasons and was relegated to the First Division in the 2025/26 season.

Binh Dinh FC finished the season with 22 points, at the bottom of the rankings. This was a big shock to fans of the team from the land of Vo when last season they finished in 3rd place. The changes in the force, declining performance and instability on the coaching bench made it impossible for Binh Dinh FC to recover. In the last 5 matches of the season, they only won 2 points.

In the same match, SHB Da Nang beat Song Lam Nghe An 2-1 at Tam Ky Stadium. Thanks to that, the Song Han team has 25 points, 4 points more than Binh Dinh Club and is in the second to last position to win a play-off spot.

SHB Da Nang can be considered to have temporarily overcome the danger in a spectacular way in the tense relegation race. They continuously fell to the bottom of the table and faced the risk of direct relegation, but still managed to recover in the final rounds to hold on to hope.

However, the chance of staying in V.League next season is still 50-50. Coach Le Duc Tuan and his team only have one match to decide their fate, and any mistake will cost them relegation.

SHB Da Nang's opponent in the play-off match is Binh Phuoc, the runner-up of the First Division. The decisive match will take place at 6:00 p.m. on June 27 at Thong Nhat Stadium (Ho Chi Minh City). This will be the finale for the 2024/25 V.League, and at the same time, close the dramatic relegation race.

Iraq withdraws, host Thailand has a headache "fighting the fire"

Thailand plans to host the 51st King's Cup in 2025 from September 1 to September 9, right on the occasion of FIFA Days, hoping to attract attention from quality teams.

Iraq (ranked 59th in the world) initially accepted the invitation to send a national team to participate, but recently withdrew from the tournament.

The reason is that the Iraqi team has its own training and friendly plans to best prepare for the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, where they will join Indonesia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE in two groups in a round-robin tournament from October 8 to October 14 to compete for 2.5 spots to the 2026 World Cup.

"The main focus of this phase is to ensure the players are in the best physical condition and form, aiming for the best results in the upcoming important matches," the Iraqi Football Federation emphasized.

It is understandable that the Iraqi team wants to avoid fierce matches that could lead to player injuries as well as revealing tactics at the King's Cup, which takes place right before the fourth qualifying round to decide World Cup tickets.

The withdrawal of the 59th ranked team Iraq has caused the King's Cup to lose a quality guest. Host Thailand will have to actively seek a replacement partner to ensure that there are 3 guests as per the tournament's regulations.

However, up to this point, apart from Iraq accepting and then withdrawing, Thailand has not been able to announce the identity of any other guests.

Ngoc Hoa will be the head coach of the Vietnamese women's volleyball team participating in the international tournament in Shanghai.

The Vietnamese women's volleyball team will leave for the Shanghai Future Stas 2025 international tournament in Shanghai (China) right after finishing the international tournament in Vinh Phuc and Phu Tho.

A representative of the Vietnam Volleyball Federation said: “We have been invited by the organizing committee of the Shanghai Future Stars 2025 international tournament to send the Vietnamese women's volleyball team to participate. Last year, we participated in this tournament and this year we will continue to compete here. The coaching board of the Vietnamese women's volleyball team has completed the preparation plan and has a team to participate in Shanghai (China). The coaching board unanimously agreed to send coach Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa as head coach to direct the players to compete in Shanghai in the Shanghai Future Stars 2025 tournament.”

In addition to coach Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa, the coaching staff of the Vietnamese women's volleyball team participating in the tournament in Shanghai (China) also includes fitness coach Karl Lim and coach Nguyen Ngoc Dung.

The Shanghai Future Stars 2025 tournament will be held in Shanghai from July 10 to 20 and it is expected that the 2024 teams will continue to compete this year.

MU's rival in the Emiliano Martinez deal

Atletico Madrid have entered the race and want to sign Emiliano Martinez this summer.

According to the Telegraph, the Aston Villa goalkeeper has attracted interest from a number of teams, including Atletico and clubs in the Saudi Pro League. Martinez could become one of the Premier League's most high-profile transfers this summer.

Atletico Madrid are keeping a close eye on Martinez's situation. The La Liga club are wary of the possibility that number one goalkeeper Jan Oblak decides to leave the club after a decade of service.

Manchester United are also interested in Martinez. However, this deal is not a top priority at the moment. Goalkeeper Andre Onana wants to commit his future to Old Trafford. Unless the "Red Devils" decide to part ways with Onana, they can recruit Martínez.

Martinez has four years left on his Aston Villa contract, which is worth £150,000 a week, but an offer of around £40m would be enough to convince Villa to meet financial requirements.

Aston Villa have sold key players many times if there is a suitable offer. In January, the team pushed striker Jhon Duran to Al Nassr for a fee of 64 million pounds. Before that, Aston Villa also sold midfielder Moussa Diaby to Al Ittihad for 52 million pounds./.