Against Vietnam, Malaysia "hides" top scorer of Argentine origin; Defeating MU, Tottenham wins Europa League after 17 years

Defeating MU, Tottenham won Europa League after 17 years

On the morning of May 22, Tottenham defeated MU 1-0 in the Europa League final held at San Mames Stadium (Bilbao).

Man Utd's worst season in the Premier League era ended with 90 minutes of helplessness in Spain. The "Red Devils" were unbeaten from the start of the tournament but fell in the decisive match, thereby accepting consecutive defeats in the last 2 Europa League finals (2021 and 2025).

On the other hand, Brennan Johnson's only goal in the 42nd minute helped Tottenham end their title drought that had lasted since 2008, and also brought a ticket to the 2025/26 Champions League qualifying round for the North London team, despite their 17th place in the Premier League.

The victory was a huge one for Tottenham. Not only was it their first trophy since the League Cup in 2008, it was also a confirmation of their revival under Postecoglou. In the Australian's 100th game in charge, Spurs also reached 150 wins in European competition.

In contrast to Tottenham's joy, Manchester United ended their 15-match unbeaten streak in the Europa League. Not stopping there, the Old Trafford team was absent from the European arena for the first time in 10 years.

Club publicly recruits Messi

Newell's Old Boys chairman Ignacio Astore has confirmed that the club are working to bring Lionel Messi back to his native Argentina to play football.

Before becoming a Barcelona legend,Messiplayed for the Newell's Old Boys youth team. After more than a decade of playing at the top level in Europe with Barcelona and PSG, the 37-year-old superstar joined Inter Miami in the summer of 2023 with a 2.5-year contract.

Messi's contract with the American team is currently up at the end of this year, but Inter Miami hopes to keep Leo at least until the 2026 World Cup in North America. With Messi's future in MLS still unclear, President Ignacio Astore expressed his desire to bring the Argentine captain back to play for Newell's Old Boys.

Mr. Astore shared with Cadena 3: "The club will always want Messi, whether it is just one tournament, 8 games, 6 games, 4 games or even just 1 game in the Newell's shirt. That is the truth and we always work for that."

However, this deal is not easy because there are still many issues to be resolved such as contract terms, Messi's family's requirements for their children's education, as well as huge financial expenses.

Vietnam has 2 slots in the 2025/26 Southeast Asian Cup C1

On May 21, the Competition Committee of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) met and approved the plan to organize the 2025/26 Southeast Asian Cup C1. Notably, in the second season of organization, the tournament will expand its scale from 12 to 14 teams.

According to the allocation, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia each have two representatives, the national champion and the national cup champion (or national championship runner-up if the country does not have a national cup, for example Indonesia).

Cambodia has one spot for the national champion. Four teams from the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos and Brunei will compete in a play-off for the remaining two spots in the group stage. The remaining spot will be automatically awarded to the defending champion.

The tournament will consist of five stages: play-offs, group stage, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. The play-offs are scheduled to take place on August 8, 2025. The 14 teams will then be divided into two groups, playing a round-robin tournament from August 2025 to February 2026 with a total of 42 group stage matches. The top four teams in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.

In the first season of the 2024/25 Southeast Asian Cup, Vietnam has 2 representatives, including Hanoi Police Club (V-League 2023 champion) and Thanh Hoa (National Cup 2023 champion). Of which, Hanoi Police excellently won the right to enter the final to meet Buriram Utd (Thailand).

U22 Vietnam and Vietnam women's team in seed group number 1 SEA Games 33

On May 21, the Competition Committee of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) met in Thailand to discuss and approve a plan to organize football tournaments focusing on men's and women's football at the 33rd SEA Games.

Accordingly, men's footballSEA Games 33There will be 11 teams participating, divided into 3 groups: Group A consists of 3 teams, Group B and C each have 4 teams.

The teams are seeded based on their performance and hosting rights as follows: Group 1 includes Thailand (host), Indonesia and Vietnam; Group 2 includes Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia; Group 3 includes Timor Leste, Philippines and Laos; Group 4 includes Singapore and Brunei. The teams will compete in a round robin format, with the top three teams in each group and the second-placed team with the best record advancing to the semi-finals.

The men's football group stage takes place from December 3 to 12; the semi-finals on December 15; the third-place match and final on December 18.

Three stadiums were chosen as competition venues, including Rajamangala (Bangkok), Tinsulanonda (Songkhla) and 700th Anniversary of Chiangmai (Chiangmai).

For women's football, the 9 teams are divided into 3 groups of 3 teams each. Group 1 includes Thailand (host), Vietnam and Myanmar; group 2 includes Cambodia, Philippines, Singapore; group 3 includes Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia.

The women’s football competition format is similar to the men’s football, with group matches taking place from December 4 to 13; semi-finals on December 14; and third-place matches and finals on December 17. The two stadiums hosting the women’s football group matches are Chonburi and TNSU Chonburi.

Against Vietnam, Malaysia "hides" Argentine top scorer

To prepare for the key match of the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup againstVietnam teamOn June 10, the Malaysian team summoned 38 players to practice from May 18.

Notably, the identities of some players are kept secret. According to the New Straits Times, among them is the Argentine-Malaysian striker Rodrigo Holgado.

"Holgado has received a call-up to the Malaysian national team. FAM is rushing to complete the procedures. The 29-year-old striker is expected to join the Malaysian team in the match against Vietnam at Bukit Jalil Stadium on June 10," reported Malaysia's leading newspaper.

Rodrigo Holgado was born in Malaysia, but grew up in Argentina, playing for several teams in Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. The striker, born in 1995, won the title of top scorer in the Chilean First Division in 2018 - the season he scored 18 goals to help Coquimbo Unido win the championship.

Since 2024, Holgado has played for America de Cali in the Colombian national championship, scoring a total of 17 goals in 44 appearances, including 7 goals and 2 assists in 19 rounds this season, helping the team lead the rankings. This striker is currently valued at 800,000 euros by Transfermarkt.

"Malaysian fans are very excited because Holgado's appearance will help strengthen the Malaysian team's attack after already owning striker Fergus Tierney (Scottish origin), striker Romel Morales (Colombian origin), midfielder Paulo Josué (Brazilian origin)," New Straits Times said./.