Vietnam national team receives 'red alert' on FIFA rankings; Former Hanoi FC Police striker applies for Vietnamese citizenship
Playing 1 match for Indonesia, the Dutch defender increased his value to 10 million euros; The Vietnamese team received a 'red alert' on the FIFA rankings before the 2024 AFF Cup; Former Hanoi FC Police striker applied for Vietnamese citizenship... are notable sports news in the past 24 hours.
Playing 1 match for Indonesia, Dutch defender's value increased to 10 million euros
According to Transfermarkt, at the time of applying for Indonesian citizenship in September, defender Mees Hilgers' transfer value was 7 million euros.
However, after successfully naturalizing and making his debut in the national team match - Indonesia's match against Bahrain in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup - Mees Hilgers' value increased by 3 million euros to 10 million euros (about 272 billion VND).
This helps Mees Hilgers continue to be the most expensive player in Southeast Asia (7 million euros more than his teammate in the Indonesian team - Thom Haye), 17th in Asia and among the top most expensive defenders in the world today.
Mees Hilgers, 23 years old, 1m85 tall, plays defender for Twente Club in the Dutch national championship.
At the age of 23, Mees Hilgers is expected to help the Indonesian national team in the long term, aiming for goals from the region, continent to the world, the immediate goal is to enter the fourth round to compete for a ticket to the World Cup.World Cup 2026.
Man City wants Pep to finalize his future in October, revealing 2 replacement candidates
Pep Guardiola's contract with Man City expires next year, but the Spanish coach has yet to make a final decision on his future.
With Thomas Tuchel becoming the new England captain, speculation that Pep Guardiola will succeed Gareth Southgate has been eliminated. This also brings positivity to Man City fans.
However, according to Cityxtra, champions Man City still want to know Pep Guardiola's intentions as soon as possible, so they can plan for the near future.
This source said, Man City wants to end all speculation about Pep Guardiola's future, before the end of October.
Former Three Lions player Gary Lineker revealed that before choosing Thomas Tuchel,English Football Associationhas contacted Pep Guardiola and coach Carlo Ancelotti.
And the most speculated scenario by the media is that Pep Guardiola will stay at Etihad, sign a new short-term 1-year contract with Man City, marking a 10-year relationship between the two sides (2016-2026).
As for Man City, although they want to keep Pep Guardiola as long as possible, they are also preparing for an alternative plan if he does not renew.
The second name in the sights of Man City's leaders is Xabi Alonso, who made a big splash with Bayer Leverkusen last season, with an incredible streak of form on the journey to winning the Bundesliga silver plate.
Vietnam team receives 'red alert' on FIFA rankings ahead of AFF Cup 2024
There is only 1 friendly match during FIFA Days in October,Vietnam team could not beat India, the opponent ranked 10 places below coach Kim Sang Sik's team before the match took place. Although only deducted 0.27 points, the Vietnamese team still dropped 3 places on the FIFA rankings.
The 119th position in the world is the lowest ranking of the Vietnam National Team since 2016. After 5 months under coach Kim Sang Sik, the Vietnam National Team has not shown much improvement in both playing style and ranking on the FIFA rankings.
Meanwhile, the Thai team won both matches in the FIFA Days last October to gain 8.7 points, rising to 96th in the world. This is the highest ranking of the War Elephants in 16 years. The gap between the Vietnamese and Thai teams on the FIFA rankings is now up to 23 places, a huge gap.
Coach Kim Sang Sik still has a lot of work to do before entering the AFF Cup 2024. The defense of the Vietnam National Team under this strategist has not kept a clean sheet once, an extremely worrying sign. The goal of winning a ticket to the final of the AFF Cup 2024 set by the VFF will be a huge challenge for coach Kim Sang Sik and his team.
Former Hanoi FC Police striker applies for Vietnamese citizenship
After Rafaelson (new name is Nguyen Xuan Son), striker Geovane Magno is the next name to apply for Vietnamese citizenship.
Geovane Magno was born in 1994, is a Brazilian striker who has played successfully in the V-League. He has played for three major clubs in the capital: Hanoi FC, The Cong Viettel andHanoi Police FC.
The Brazilian player started playing football in Vietnam for Saigon FC in early 2019. Thus, he has had 5 years of living and playing in the country he wants to apply for naturalization, according to FIFA regulations.
Geovane is a member of the Hanoi Police club in the 2023/24 season. Although highly rated, he was affected by injuries, playing 24 matches and scoring only 2 goals. This season, Geovane said goodbye to the Police team to join Ha Tinh.
Under the guidance of his former coach, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Cong, Geovane found his inspiration to play football again, scoring 3 goals in the first 4 matches of V-League 2024/25. In total, Geovane has scored 32 goals in 97 matches in Vietnam's top league.
With Geovane’s desire to have Vietnamese nationality, Ha Tinh club is actively supporting this player to complete the procedure soon. If successful, Geovane Magno is fully capable of being called up to the Vietnam national team./.
