Cong Phuong increases transfer price; Korean press wants to be in the same group as Vietnam and China

Ronaldo cried when seeing pictures of his father

"I have never seen this video. It is beyond my imagination," Ronaldo said.

This emotional moment took place during an interview with a British TV station. Journalist Piers Morgan showed Ronaldo a video of his father standing on the front steps of their house and talking about his son. Ronaldo burst into tears and had to wipe his eyes with a handkerchief.

"I thought this interview would be fun but I didn't expect to cry. I've never seen these pictures before. I don't know where you got them. I have to take these pictures to show my family," Ronaldo said.

Ronaldo's father, Jose Dinis Aveiro, was an alcoholic and died of liver disease at the age of 52. Ronaldo was only 20 at the time. As a result, Aveiro was unable to witness the great achievements his son made as a footballer.

"I really didn't understand my father. He was an alcoholic. I never had a normal conversation with him. It was difficult," Ronaldo said.

Since his father's death, Ronaldo has won the Champions League five times, the Golden Ball five times and helped Portugal win Euro 2016 as well as the 2019 Nations League.

"My family, from my mother to my brothers and sisters, even my eldest son, witnessed everything. But my father did not. He died too soon," Ronaldo said.

Ronaldo also revealed that he will marry his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez one day, but not now. "We will definitely get married one day. That's my mother's wish."

Cong Phuong price increase

Transfermarkt, one of the most accurate and reputable player valuation sites, has just announced the value of striker Nguyen Cong Phuong at 200,000 euros (about 5 billion VND), an increase of 50,000 euros compared to the time before Vietnam drew with Thailand in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

This is quite surprising news because Cong Phuong has hardly played in recent rounds of the Belgian league. According to statistics, he has only played for just over 20 minutes in the Sint-Truidense shirt. The Vietnamese national team striker was also not registered to play in round 7 which took place in the early morning of September 15.

Cong Phuong's transfer price according to Transfermarkt's assessment. Screenshot.

Despite the significant increase in transfer value, Cong Phuong is still only in the group of 8 players with the lowest prices at STVV. The most expensive player on this club's list is striker Yohan Boli (Ivory Coast, 25 years old) with a price of 3 million euros. The player with the lowest price is goalkeeper Maxime Wenssens born in 2001 (50,000 euros).

According to Han Kyung, coach of the Korean U23 team Kim Hak-bum once said in an interview: "If we were in the same group as Vietnam or China, a lot of interesting things would happen." However, the press of this country wants all three teams to be in the same group.

Chosun newspaper opened the article: "It is possible that coach Kim Hak-bum will face Park Hang-seo and Hiddink in the group stage of the U23 Asia in January 2020 in Thailand."
The article explains that U23 Korea is in group 2 with Japan, DPRK and Iraq. The 4th place in the previous tournament, along with host Thailand in group 1, caused them to be pushed down to group 2. According to the rules, Korea will not meet teams in the same group in the group stage. It is possible that they will face Vietnam (group 1) and China (group 3).

The Vietnam U23 team, led by coach Park Hang-seo, reached the final of the AFC U23 Championship last year and only lost 1-2 to Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, the South Korean U23 team, led by Kim Bong-gil, despite beating Vietnam 2-1 in the group stage, was defeated 1-4 by Uzbekistan in the semi-finals, and lost 0-1 to Qatar in the third-place match.

"According to the grouping, the 16 participating teams are divided into 4 groups. The possibility of Coach Kim facing Park Hang-seo and Hiddink cannot be ruled out. This is also a battle to win tickets to the Tokyo Olympics," Chosun commented.

Coach Park has the opportunity to face Hiddink in China. Photo: IC Photo