Cong Phuong has a chance to debut in J-League 1; Ronaldo shines on the day Al Nassr regains the top spot

Ronaldo shines as Al Nassr regains top spot

On the night of February 17 (Hanoi time), Ronaldo scored two assists in Al Nassr's 2-1 win over Al Taawon in round 17 of the Saudi Pro League.

At home, Al Nassr proactively pushed up their attacking formation and were soon rewarded with the opening goal in the 17th minute. From Cristiano Ronaldo's impressive through ball, Abdulrahman Ghareeb escaped down the left wing and finished delicately, defeating the goalkeeper.

After taking the advantage, Al Nassr suddenly slowed down and let Al Taawon equalize 1-1 at the beginning of the second half. In the 51st minute, the yellow and blue defense did not mark anyone and let Alvaro Medran freely run in and cushion the ball into the roof of the net.

Ronaldo moved wide on both wings, in the middle, even dropping back to the middle of the field to support the midfield.

Al Nassr's defense continued to play like they were sleepwalking. In the 67th minute, the home team's net shook for the second time, after Leandre Tawamba pressed and shot. Luck was on Ronaldo's side and his teammates, when VAR intervened and denied the goal due to offside.

Al Nassr escaped defeat and surprisingly scored a second goal in the 78th minute. Luiz Gustavo's shot hit Ronaldo and bounced right into Madu's feet. The third center-back seized the opportunity to restore the home team's lead.

The referee initially disallowed the goal. However, he changed his mind after watching the slow-motion video replay. Ronaldo was still standing on a defender on the away team. The goal was awarded, meaning CR7 completed his double assist.

The match was exciting in the final minutes. In the 87th minute, Al Nassr fans were shocked by the silly mistake of the defense. Sumayhan Alnabit faced the goalkeeper alone but his kick sent the ball just wide of the post.

The match at MrSool Park ended with a 2-1 victory for Al Nassr. Ronaldo and his teammates have the same 40 points as Al Ittihad and Al Shabab but are ranked higher due to a better goal difference.

Vietnam Futsal Team trains in Argentina for 2024 World Cup

To realize the goal of participating in the Futsal World Cup for the third consecutive time, the Vietnam Futsal Team will have a training trip in Argentina in June 2023.

The training trip to Argentina in June 2023 of the Vietnam Futsal Team is one of the contents of the working session between VFF President - Tran Quoc Tuan and Argentine Ambassador to Vietnam - Pablo Maria Beltramino.

Vietnam Futsal Team will go to Argentina for training in June 2023. Photo: VFF

Accordingly, the Vietnam Futsal Team will go to the South American country to practice and compete in friendly matches to gain experience before competing in the 2024 Asian Futsal qualifying round, which is also considered the 2024 Futsal World Cup qualifying round.

This is the first time in 7 years that the Vietnam Futsal Team has returned to Argentina for training and friendly matches. Ambassador Luis Pablo Maria Beltramino also pledged to create the best conditions for the Vietnam Futsal Team to achieve positive results during this training trip.

In the past, the Vietnam Futsal Team has participated in the World Cup twice in 2016 and 2021. The team's goal is of course to return to the world's top tournament in 2024.

Also at the meeting with the VFF President, Ambassador Luis Pablo Maria Beltramino expressed his hope that the 2017 friendly match between the Vietnam U20 team and the Argentina U20 team will be re-enacted in Vietnam in the near future.

Van Toan makes an assist for Korean club, impresses coach Park Choong-kyun

Nguyen Van Toan assisted the opening goal, helping Korean club Seoul E-Land beat Incheon United 2-1 in a friendly match yesterday.

Nguyen Van Toan is the latest former Hoang Anh Gia Lai player to go abroad, following the trio of Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong and Tuan Anh. The striker from Hai Duong chose a destination that was considered "suitable" when he accepted to wear the shirt of a club in the Korean second division, Seoul E-Land.

At Seoul E-Land, Van Toan was honored to receive the number 9 shirt in the new season. This is a sign that he is likely to be a starter and has the opportunity to become the team's star.

Van Toan has the opportunity to become a star of a Korean club.

Van Toan quickly made his mark at Seoul E-Land. In a friendly match against Incheon United yesterday, the former Hoang Anh Gia Lai striker provided a pass for Ronan David to open the scoring in the 13th minute. After that, Icheon equalized in the 18th minute but Ronan David shined again, sealing the victory for Seoul E-Land in the 66th minute.

Like at Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Van Toan was assigned by Coach Park Choong-kyun to start on the right wing. The striker's speed made Incheon United's defenders work at full capacity. Although he did not score, Van Toan made a good impression on Coach Park Choong-kyun as well as his new teammates.

In recent times, Van Toan has shown great efforts in integrating with Seoul E-Land. Not only practicing hard on the field, this 26-year-old striker also studies Korean and learns about Korean culture to adapt to the new environment.

This season's K-League 2 consists of 13 teams. The teams will play a total of 36 matches (3 rounds) from March 1 to December 2. The champion team will be promoted directly to K-League 1. The teams from 2nd to 5th place will play a play-off to select 2 teams, then continue to compete directly with the 2 teams at the bottom of the K-League 1 table to compete for a promotion ticket. Seoul E-Land has participated in 9 consecutive seasons in K-League 2 but has never been promoted.

Cong Phuong has a chance to debut in J-League 1

Today, February 18, Cong Phuong has the opportunity to enter the field to play his debut match in J-League 1 when Yokohama FC will face Nagoya Grampus on the opening day of the 2023 season.

Today, February 18, the first round of the 2023 J-League 1 season will continue with 8 matches. Yokohama FC will host Nagoya Grampus at home in a match taking place at 12:00 Vietnam time.

After nearly 2 months of joining the new team, Cong Phuong has adapted to a certain extent and received high praise from Coach Yomoda. Therefore, the opportunity for the Vietnamese player to be on the registration list and then play is not small.

Cong Phuong could make his J-League debut today (February 18). Photo: Yokohama FC

If used,Cong Phuongwill become the first Vietnamese player to play in J-League 1, and will likely be called up by Coach Troussier to the Vietnam National Team for the FIFA Days training session next March.

Previously, Cong Phuong proactively asked Coach Park Hang Seo not to join the Vietnam National Team in the AFF Cup 2022 in order to have time to practice and get acquainted with the new team Yokohama FC. Cong Phuong is very determined in this trip abroad when he brought his whole family to Japan to settle down./.