Vietnam women's futsal team completes training in Japan; Barcelona wins King's Cup

Vietnam women's futsal team completes training in Japan

On the afternoon of April 26, the Vietnamese women's futsal team returned home after a training trip in Japan, concluding an important preparation phase before entering the 2025 Asian Women's Futsal Finals.

Coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang and his team returned to Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City, in an excited and confident mood after nearly a week of training and competing in Japan.

During this training trip, the Vietnamese women's futsal team had two friendly matches with Fugador Sumida Ladies club (won 2-0) and the Japanese women's futsal team (lost 1-4) - the team currently ranked 10th on the FIFA futsal rankings.

Through the two matches, the Vietnamese players not only improved their physical strength and enhanced their ability to compete at high intensity, but also accumulated valuable experience in tactics and international competition psychology.

According to the plan, the team will return to the training ground at 3:00 p.m. on April 27 to continue perfecting tactics and overcoming limitations revealed during training. The coaching staff is expected to make adjustments to the playing style, especially focusing on the ability to switch between attack and defense and improve finishing efficiency.

At the 2025 Asian Women's Futsal Championship, the Vietnamese women's futsal team is in Group B with opponents Iran, Hong Kong (China) and the Philippines. The tournament will take place from May 7 to 18 in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China.

According to the competition format, the top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams will advance to the quarter-finals. In particular, the three teams with the highest results in the tournament (champion, runner-up and third place) will win tickets to the 2025 Women's Futsal World Cup Finals.

With thorough preparation, positivity and high determination, the Vietnamese women's futsal team is aiming to not only pass the group stage but also compete for a place at the Women's Futsal World Cup, marking a new step forward for Vietnamese women's futsal in the international arena.

Cong Phuong scored another great goal for Binh Phuoc

On the afternoon of April 26, Cong Phuong continued to show his brilliant form, scoring 1 goal from a free kick and assisting 1 goal to help Binh Phuoc Club beat Dong Thap 2-0 in round 16 of the 2024-2025 National First Division on the evening of April 26.

Under heavy rain at home, Binh Phuoc still actively played offensively from the start with Dong Thap to win 3 points to consolidate 2nd place. However, the first half passed with difficulty.

Coach Quoc Anh's team controlled the ball well and had 4 shots. However, the lack of precision in the coordination made the home team's chances pass by regrettably. The heavy rain and slippery pitch also made the home team's coordination ineffective. In particular, Cong Phuong was closely marked and only had one free kick that missed the target.

On the other side, Dong Thap organized a tight defense and had several dangerous counter-attacks but could not take advantage.

After the break, Binh Phuoc increased the pace and controlled the game. Cong Phuong started to play flexibly, making wide moves, dangerous crosses and opening up scoring opportunities for his teammates. In the 73rd minute, he took a beautiful free kick from about 25m, scoring his 3rd goal from a free kick in the last 2 matches. In the extra time, he continued to leave his mark with a delicate pass to Thanh Dat to seal the 2-0 victory.

This victory helps Binh Phuoc maintain the second position in the table with 36 points after 15 matches, continuing to chase Ninh Binh Club and creating a 6-point gap with PVF-CAND. Cong Phuong currently has 6 goals and 4 assists after 8 matches.

In the previous round, he scored two consecutive free kicks, contributing greatly to the 2-1 comeback victory against Hoa Binh. Up to now, the striker born in 1995 has scored 7 goals and had 4 assists after only 9 appearances.

Barcelona won the King's Cup after a spectacular score chase

The El Clasico match between Barcelona and Real Madrid in the King's Cup final took place with extreme drama, ending after 120 minutes with a thrilling 3-2 victory for Barcelona, ​​thanks to a super moment in the final minutes.

Barcelona started strongly under coach Hansi Flick, controlling the ball and pushing Real Madrid back from the 6th minute. In the 28th minute, Lamine Yamal coordinated well with Pedri, who fired a superb shot into the top corner, opening the score at 1-0. Before that, Yamal (19th minute) and Kounde (21st minute) continuously threatened Courtois' goal, while Real Madrid encountered inaccurate handling, such as Bellingham's goal being disallowed for offside (35th minute).

The second half saw Real Madrid rise. In the 49th minute, Szczesny repeatedly blocked Vinicius's shots after Bellingham's pass. In the 70th minute, Kylian Mbappe equalized 1-1 with a tricky free kick that left Szczesny helpless. Just 7 minutes later, Tchouameni powerfully headed in from Guler's corner, raising the score to 2-1 for Real Madrid. However, Barcelona responded strongly. In the 82nd minute, Courtois brilliantly blocked Yamal's curling shot, but in the 84th minute, Yamal assisted Ferran Torres to run past Courtois and equalize 2-2.

Extra time was a tense chase. In the 99th minute, Lopez crossed the ball dangerously but Courtois caught it. In the 104th minute, Torres missed when his shot went wide. In the 107th minute, Torres' goal was disallowed for offside. Real Madrid also caused controversy when Asencio brought down Raphinha (90+6 minute), but VAR determined that Raphinha was diving, leading to a yellow card. The rejected penalty situations, such as Valverde's handball (16th minute) or Ceballos' pull on Cubarsi (44th minute), made the match more dramatic. Both Courtois and Szczesny played excellently, keeping the match balanced.

The climax of the match came in the 116th minute when Jules Kounde became the hero for Barcelona. The defender ran forward to steal the ball decisively before unleashing a powerful shot from outside the box, leaving Courtois helpless and sealing a 3-2 victory. Kounde's superb goal not only ended 120 minutes of suspense but also brought Barcelona a historic victory over their arch-rivals.

Last Premier League team relegated

On the night of April 26, Ipswich lost 0-3 to Newcastle, thereby following Leicester and Southampton down to the First Division for the 2025/26 season.

Ipswich’s relegation scenario was predicted from the previous round, when Coach McKenna and his team were 15 points behind the safe zone. In a desperate attempt to survive, the Portman Road team still had to say goodbye to the highest league in England 4 matches early.

After 34 matches, Ipswich only has 21 points, ranking 18th, 15 points behind the team above them, West Ham, while there are only 4 rounds left in the season.

The 2024/25 Premier League is the second consecutive season where all three promoted teams will have to return to the Championship. In the 2023/24 season, Luton, Burnley, and Sheffield will also be relegated, after only one season in the Premier League.

At St James' Park, Ipswich could only defend against Newcastle's relentless attacks. The turning point came in the 37th minute, when the visitors were down to 10 men, after Benjamin Johnson was sent off.

The home team took advantage of the extra man to increase the pressure and get the opening goal in the 45+4 minute. Alexander Isak kicked coolly from the penalty spot. The Swedish striker scored his 22nd goal in the Premier League, a record only behind Mohamed Salah (27 goals).

Early in the second half, Dan Burn doubled Newcastle's lead with a close-range header. In the 84th minute, substitute William Osula sealed a 3-0 win for the North East English team, also with a powerful aerial strike.

This result helps Newcastle rise to 3rd place on the rankings with 62 points, 2 points more than the 6th place team.

Leverkusen prevented Bayern Munich from winning the Bundesliga early

Bayern Munich won the match 3-0, while Bayer Leverkusen also won all 3 points, preventing the 'Gray Tigers' from winning the Bundesliga in the 2024/25 season.

Returning to their home field to welcome Mainz, Bayern Munich did not hide their ambition to win all 3 points when they pressured the visitors from the first minutes. After many missed opportunities, it was not until the 27th minute that Leroy Sane opened the score for the "Gray Tigers" after a precise combination.

Before the end of the first half, Bayern doubled the gap thanks to Michael Olise, who finished accurately from a pass from Konrad Laimer - the player who also assisted the opening goal earlier. In the 84th minute, center-back Eric Dier sealed the 3-0 victory after a beautiful assist from Olise.

Bayern beat Mainz 3-0, raising their total points to 75 after 31 rounds. However, coach Vincent Kompany and his team still cannot officially be crowned Bundesliga champions this season because Leverkusen also won.

At home, Leverkusen tried to stop Bayern by beating Augsburg 2-0 thanks to goals from Patrik Schick and Emiliano Buendia. The gap between the two teams is still 8 points, while the tournament has 3 rounds left to finish.

In the next round, just need to defeat RB Leipzig, Bayern will be crowned early without having to care about the result of Freiburg's match against Leverkusen a day later.

Also in the 31st round of Bundesliga, Stuttgart unexpectedly lost 0-1 to Heidenheim at home, Dortmund dramatically defeated Hoffenheim 3-2, Holstein Kiel thrillingly won Gladbach 4-3, and Freiburg easily defeated Wolfsburg with a score of 1-0.