What happens if Coach Park Hang-seo faces Vietnam team?; Barca leaves Real Madrid far behind in La Liga

What happens if coach Park Hang-seo faces the Vietnamese team?

After a period of unsuccessfully searching for a new destination, information about Coach Park Hang-seo contacting the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) suddenly broke out right at the time the Vietnamese team gathered to prepare for the matches during FIFA Days in early September.

It is quite normal that the former coach of the Vietnamese national team wants to lead Malaysia, because this team is currently temporarily without a captain after Mr. Kim Pan Gon said goodbye about a month ago.

However, whether Mr. Park Hang-seo's desire to return to the coaching bench after a long time of searching for a job will come true or not remains to be seen, especially when FAM's trust in Korean strategists has dropped quite low after a series of scandals with Coach Kim Pan Gon.

If Mr. Park Hang-seo can convince FAM and lead the Malaysian team, this will be a real concern for the Vietnamese team in the future.

This is natural, as the Korean strategist with more than 5 years of leading and working with Vietnamese football understands the strengths and weaknesses of his old team.

Not to mention, currently coach Kim Sang Sik is leading the Vietnamese team and seems to be greatly influenced by Mr. Park Hang-seo in his personnel decisions and playing style. Therefore, if there is a real confrontation, it will not be easy with the "Golden Star Warriors".

There is indeed reason to worry if Coach Park Hang-seo returns and leads a team in the Southeast Asian region. However, on the contrary, it also helps Vietnamese football and Mr. Kim Sang Sik in renewing themselves after a period of staleness.

Simply put, the long period of success under Mr. Park has made Vietnamese football "fall asleep", so now it needs to wake up with new challenges that are both big and difficult enough.

The failures in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers or against Indonesia recently seem not to be "enough" when many people still think it is because of Mr. Troussier, or because the opponent has naturalized players instead of the team itself, Vietnamese football has stagnated.

And when they can renew themselves, which Southeast Asian team is led by Mr. Park Hang-seo is not a big problem, in fact, the confrontation will be very interesting.

Nam Dinh won the 2024 National Super Cup

On the evening of August 31, Nam Dinh Club beat Thanh Hoa 3-0 in the 2024 National Super Cup match at Thien Truong Stadium.

This is the first time Nam Dinh has won the National Super Cup since the tournament was held in 1998. Previously, Hanoi was the most successful team with 5 titles.

Nam Dinh's 3 goals came from Rafaelson Fernandes (minutes 51, 70) and Tran Van Cong (minute 65). All 3 goals came from counter-attacks.

Rafaelson opened the scoring for the home team after dribbling past a defender and facing the Thanh Hoa goalkeeper. Van Cong increased the gap after tapping the ball into the net from Van Vi's cross. A few minutes later, Van Vi completed his double assist when he passed to Rafaelson to seal the score at 3-0.

This was a bad match for Thanh Hoa's defense. Besides, coach Velizar Popov's team was also unlucky in attacking situations. Rimario Gordon had his goal and penalty denied, while center back Gustavo Santana received a red card.

Nam Dinh won the double title in the 2023/24 season with the V.League championship and the Super Cup. Thanh Hoa failed to defend the Super Cup and missed the opportunity to be crowned for the third time in this front.

The champion team Nam Dinh will receive a prize of 300 million VND and the cup, the runner-up team Thanh Hoa will receive 200 million VND. After this match, the players will prepare for the V.League 2024/25 season starting in September.

Losing to Russian representative, Vietnamese women's volleyball team finished second in VTV Cup 2024

Despite their best efforts, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team could not create a surprise against the Korabelka team (Russia), losing 0-3 in the final match.

The Vietnamese women’s volleyball team played evenly with the Russian representative in the first set. However, the yellow-shirted players had problems with their serve-blocking ability. Korabelka often served close to the net, making it difficult for Vietnam to counterattack.

However, Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen and her teammates maintained a draw in the first points, before suddenly taking the lead in the 15th and 16th points. The Vietnamese team had a 6-point gap with Korabelka at one point. However, as the set progressed, Cherniaeva and her teammates played better and better. From a losing position, the Russian representative saved 2 set points to tie the score at 25-25.

Bich Tuyen unexpectedly hit the ball out at the deciding point, causing Vietnam to lose 27-29 to Korabelka. This was not a bad set for Vietnam, but Korabelka played with great courage.

Disheartened after the unfortunate set loss, the Vietnamese team faced many difficulties in set 2. Bich Tuyen was still the main scorer for Vietnam, but her errors appeared more often. On the contrary, Korabelka played better and better with a team full of stars.

The pair of Artiukhina and Palshina created a solid shield at the net, reducing the damage from the shots of Bich Tuyen and Nguyen Thi Trinh. Bich Tuyen's efforts helped Vietnam shorten the score to 12-16, before Korabelka started to accelerate. The Russian team scored consecutive important points, closing the second set with a score of 25-15, temporarily leading 2-0.

Nguyen Tuan Kiet and his team's hopes were quickly extinguished in set 3, when Korabelka led 11-3 after the first 14 points. The gap was even increased to 16-6, before the Russian team won 25-15 in the deciding set.

In the end, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team lost 0-3 to Korabelka in the final match of VTV Cup 2024, officially winning the runner-up position.

Although not winning the championship, VTV Cup 2024 still brings valuable experiences for the Vietnamese team. Korabelka or Expressway are effective tests, before Coach Tuan Kiet's team competes at the 2025 World Cup.

Arsenal share points with Brighton

Arsenal and Brighton won both of their first two games of the season and they continued their unbeaten record when they drew 1-1 in the early match of round 3 of the Premier League 2024-25.

The Gunners started well and created a few chances to get close to Verbruggen's goal, the Dutch goalkeeper who had just returned to play after a month out injured. This was Verbruggen's first match in the Premier League this season. However, Arsenal's strikers were not sharp enough in their finishing.

Brighton played a tight game, they did not let Arsenal dominate and constantly pressed. The home team's attacks created breakthroughs mainly on the right wing, where Saka was. In the 38th minute, the English striker had a clever challenge and then passed the ball to Havertz to beat Verbruggen who was on the way out.

Arsenal’s goal came in an unexpected situation, Brighton’s defense seemed to be complacent in this phase. Shortly after the break, Arsenal suddenly lost a man in a phase… not worth being penalized.

In the 47th minute, Rice used a trick to kick the ball while Brighton's player was about to take a free kick, and the Arsenal midfielder even held his leg as if he had been fouled. However, Rice's trick did not fool referee Kavanagh. The Arsenal midfielder was shown a yellow card, which was Rice's second yellow card of the match, meaning he was sent off.

Having one man down made it difficult for Arsenal as Brighton completely controlled the game. In the 57th minute, goalkeeper Raya blocked a shot from a Brighton player in a one-on-one situation, but the ball bounced back and was just in the right range for Pedro to score the equalizer, tying the score at 1-1.

During the remaining time, Brighton played offensively, the visitors created a few dangerous moves but were unlucky to score. Arsenal also had a few good counter-attacking opportunities, but unfortunately the home team still could not improve their finishing.

Unable to score more goals, Arsenal and Brighton had to share points at Emirates, both teams have 7 points after 3 matches. In the next round, Arsenal will play in the London derby at Tottenham, while Brighton will return home to host Ipswich.

Barca leaves Real Madrid far behind in La Liga

On the night of August 31, Barca crushed Valladolid 7-0 in round 4 of La Liga, thereby creating a 7-point gap with Real Madrid (12 vs. 5).

At the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, Hansi Flick and his team had a walkover against opponents of different levels. On the day, all positions on the attack line were in good form, Barcelona quickly decided the match in the first half with 3 goals, the remaining 4 goals were scored in the second half. This was also the first time since 2016 that Barca had a victory with a difference of 7 goals or more in La Liga.

Lamine Yamal continued his impressive form. The 17-year-old star shone with 2 assists. Meanwhile, Raphinha had a hat-trick with 2 assists.

In the 20th minute, Raphinha ran into Pau Curbasi's long pass, before finishing delicately with his left foot, opening the score. In the 24th minute, Yamal's pass tore through the visitors' defense for Robert Lewandowski to double the gap. In the 45+2 minute, Jules Kounde finished close to the goal, helping the "Blaugrana" enter the break with a 3-goal advantage.

In the second half, Valladolid resisted weakly and conceded 4 more goals. In the 64th and 72nd minutes, Raphinha scored 2 more goals from close range shots to complete his first hat-trick since playing professional football. Meanwhile, Yamal had a dream start with 1 goal and 4 assists after 4 matches.

Valladolid's nightmare did not stop. In the 83rd minute, Raphinha assisted Dani Olmo to score the 6th goal for Barca. The 62 million euro new signing of the "Blaugrana" also scored his 2nd goal in 2 appearances. In the 85th minute, Ferran Torres scored the 7th goal for the home team, continuing from Raphinha's assist.

Barca won big to maintain the top spot with 12 points, 5 more than Real Madrid. After this round, La Liga will take a break to make way for the FIFA Days series. Barca will return on September 15 to face Girona.