Former Hanoi FC veteran becomes assistant coach of Vietnam U17; Leverkusen touches Bundesliga championship
(Baonghean.vn) - Former Captain of Hanoi Club was appointed as assistant coach of Vietnam U17; national team player Dinh Bac joined Vietnam U23 amid criticism; Leverkusen is only 1 win away from the Bundesliga championship... are notable sports news in the past 24 hours.
Former Hanoi Club veteran becomes assistant coach of U17 Vietnam
According to the latest information on the homepage of the Hanoi Youth Football Training Center, Coach Cristano Roland - who is leading Hanoi U17, will join the Coaching Board of the Vietnam U17 Team during the first training period in 2024. However, he will play the role of assistant and not head coach as previously rumored.
Cristiano Roland is a familiar name to Vietnamese football fans. The Brazilian central defender was one of the first members to build the Hanoi T&T Football Club (the predecessor of Hanoi FC) in the period 2009-2013. The once-famous Brazilian defender contributed greatly to the V.League championship in 2010, 2013 as well as the National Super Cup in 2010 of the Capital team.
The central defender, born in 1976, came from the famous youth academy of Grêmio. He then played for many famous teams such as Vasco Da Gama, Grêmio, Benfica, Juventude before joining the capital team. Cristiano was the captain of the Hanoi Club for many years.
In September 2023, Coach Cristiano Roland started his youth football training job for Hanoi Club with the role of training and leading the U15 group. In March 2024, the coach born in 1976 continued to be entrusted with the task of leading Hanoi U17 to participate in the 2024 National U17 Qualifiers. Under the leadership of the Brazilian coach, Hanoi U17 passed the qualifying round with the top position in Group A, excellently winning a ticket to the 2024 National U17 Finals.
It should be added that famous player Cristiano Roland currently has a B coaching license issued by the European Football Federation (UEFA). Before working for Hanoi youth football, the Brazilian coach had a period of time as an assistant to coach Phan Thanh Hung at Binh Duong Club in 2021.
With coach Cristiano Roland being appointed as assistant coach of Vietnam U17, the captain position is likely to be assigned to Mr. Tran Minh Chien, a close assistant of coach Hoang Anh Tuan when Vietnam U17 participated in the 2023 AFC U17 Championship as well as the journey to bring Vietnam U19 to the semi-finals of the 2016 AFC U19 Championship and win a ticket to the 2017 U20 World Cup.
Dinh Bac joins U23 Vietnam amid wave of criticism
In the first meeting to prepare for the 2024 AFC U23 Championship Finals, Vietnam U23 had full squad, including Dinh Bac - a player who has been receiving a lot of criticism from the head coach of Quang Nam Club in recent times.
In this training session, Dinh Bac showed his comfort despite the recent noise. On the national team, Bac was disappointing in the World Cup qualifiers. At the club, he was pushed down to the youth team because of his star attitude and was recently publicly criticized by his coach after refusing to join the Hanoi FC.
Most recently, Quang Nam head coach Van Sy Son said that Dinh Bac must listen and learn more to develop. "Dinh Bac is a potential player, I will be happy when he joins Hanoi FC, but what will he get in Quang Nam? If Dinh Bac were surrounded by other high-class players, he would benefit a lot. But Bac was incited by others, his mind was not stable, he had illusions about his own value, so things like that happened," coach Van Sy Son commented on Dinh Bac's lackluster performance but individual play in the match where Quang Nam drew 1-1 with HAGL, in round 15 of V.League 2023/24.
Despite the scandals, when he joined the Vietnam U23 team, Dinh Bac put aside his non-professional matters to practice and prepare for the 2024 AFC U23 Championship. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan highly appreciated Dinh Bac's attitude.
Athlete Nguyen Thuy Linh is ready for the Asian Championship
The Vietnamese badminton team will participate in the Asian Championship taking place in China from April 9 to April 14. This is also the last chance for Nguyen Thuy Linh to accumulate more points effectively to increase her ranking for the 2024 Olympic qualifiers.
The good results in the European tournament series are the basis for Nguyen Thuy Linh to conquer the challenges ahead. Linh's best result is reaching the final of the women's singles at the 2024 German Open. Continuous professional practice helps her compete more effectively.
Currently, Nguyen Thuy Linh is ranked 21st in the women's singles world and 15th in the rankings for players competing for tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics. In this tournament, Thuy Linh will compete with the world's top badminton names such as: An Se Young of Korea, Chen Yu Fei, Tai Tzu Ying of China...
During this period, Thuy Linh received professional training from Indonesian expert Hariawan Hong. With the expert accompanying her, Vietnam's No. 1 badminton player will have the best advice when competing on the court, improving her skills, aiming for positive results at this prestigious badminton event.
Today (April 7), the Vietnamese badminton team will depart for China and compete from April 9 to April 11. The Asian Badminton Championship attracts most of the top players from the continent and the world, this will be an ideal opportunity for Vietnamese players to compete before competing at the 2024 Olympics.
Leverkusen touch Bundesliga championship
On the evening of April 6, Leverkusen easily defeated Union Berlin 1-0 in the 28th round of the Bundesliga. This victory helped Bayer Leverkusen extend their unbeaten streak to 41 matches. Coach Xabi Alonso and his team are only 1 match behind Juventus's greatest European record without a loss. In the 2011/12 season, Antonio Conte's Juventus went 42 matches unbeaten.
In the match at the same time, Bayern led 2-0 after the first half but lost 2-3 to Heidenheim. With this result, the Bundesliga title will almost change hands for the first time in 11 years. Leverkusen is 16 points ahead of Bayern. Coach Alonso's team will become German champions 5 rounds early on April 14, if they beat Werder Bremen.
The match in Berlin took place at a rather slow pace. Leverkusen remained loyal to their possession-based style of play and suddenly accelerated with breakthroughs from both flanks.
In the first half, the away team did not create many chances. However, a breakthrough appeared in the extra time. Leverkusen put the ball in the Union Berlin net but the referee disallowed it for offside.
However, when reviewing the offside situation of the away team's player, the VAR team unexpectedly discovered that Christopher Trimmel had let the ball touch his hand. After carefully consulting the slow-motion video, the main referee decided to award Leverkusen a penalty.
From 11m, Florian Wirtz calmly finished, putting the visitors ahead 1-0 just before halftime.
In the second half, Leverkusen continued to hold the ball firmly and did not give Union Berlin a chance to attack. Throughout the 90 minutes, goalkeeper Hradecky did not face any danger.
The latest match on Saturday between Brighton vs Arsenal in round 32 of the Premier League ended with a resounding 3-0 victory for the away team, thereby helping the Gunners temporarily rise to the top of the rankings.
Arsenal temporarily occupies the top of the Premier League table
Man City's resounding 4-2 victory over Crystal Palace in the earliest match of round 32 made Arsenal understand that they had to beat Brighton if they wanted to compete for the championship. With the return of key players after being rested in the victory over Luton in the middle of the week, Arsenal quickly created a game that put pressure on the visitors and created delicious opportunities but Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel failed to take advantage.
The turning point of the match came in the 31st minute, when Jesus was brought down by Lamptey in the penalty area. After receiving advice from the VAR team, the referee awarded Arsenal a penalty and Saka made no mistake to open the scoring.
After Arsenal's goal, the game became more open, as the home team Brighton was forced to push up their formation to find an equalizer. Luckily for Arsenal, goalkeeper David Raya played solidly and made excellent saves in the final minutes of the first half.
In the second half, Arsenal's defense was more solidly protected, minimizing the home team's attacks. Not only that, the Gunners' attack became sharper. In the 62nd minute, in an attack on the right wing, Jorginho had a favorable cross for Kai Havertz to tap the ball into the goal, doubling the gap for the away team.
With a 2-goal win, Arsenal played more comfortably and in the final minutes of the match, super sub Leandro Trossard scored the winning goal to make it 3-0 for the Gunners. With this victory, Arsenal temporarily rose to the top of the Premier League table with 71 points, 1 point more than Liverpool but having played 1 more match. In contrast, Brighton still only had 43 points and was pushed down to 10th place.
