Vietnam team continues to fall deep in FIFA rankings; Messi speaks out about retirement plans
(Baonghean.vn) - The Vietnamese national team continues to fall deeply in the FIFA rankings; Messi speaks out about his retirement plan; Rafaelson dominates the V-League Player of the Month award... are notable sports news in the past 24 hours.
Vietnam team continues to fall deep in FIFA rankings
The Vietnamese team continued to slide down the FIFA rankings after two consecutive defeats against Indonesia in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.
In two matches in March, the Vietnam team under Philippe Troussier lost to Indonesia 0-1 at Bung Karno and 0-3 at home at My Dinh Stadium.
Two consecutive defeats not only almost completely eliminated the chance for Vietnam to advance, but also resulted in a heavy deduction of points by FIFA.
According to Football Ranking, the Vietnam team was deducted 30.04 points after two losses to Indonesia, thereby falling 10 places on the FIFA rankings (from 105 to 115).
This is the team's lowest position since November 2017, when coach Park Hang-seo was not yet leading the Vietnamese team.
In 2024 alone, the Vietnam National Team dropped from 94th to 115th in the world (down 21 places).
Poor results also forced the Vietnam Football Federation to terminate the contract with Mr. Philippe Troussier after exactly 1 year.
Vietnam Futsal Team Drops Victory Against New Zealand
On the afternoon of March 28, the first match of the 2024 International Futsal Tournament took place at Lanh Binh Thang Stadium - Ho Chi Minh City.
This is the tournament to kick off the 2024 Asian Futsal finals campaign of the Vietnamese futsal team.
Playing under the enthusiastic cheers of the home crowd, it was not until the 9th minute that Van Tien was able to break the balance after a block and then turned around to finish with his left foot, bringing the Vietnamese futsal team to a 1-0 lead. However, the next change in the formation made the Vietnamese team somewhat lose focus in defense. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Rahan Ali equalized 1-1 for New Zealand after a fairly simple finish.
In the following developments, the Vietnam Futsal Team still maintained a good attacking position and scored a goal to increase the score to 2-1.
In the second half, a surprise happened when New Zealand scored an equalizer 2-2.
The final result was a 2-2 draw between the Vietnam Futsal Team and New Zealand. On March 30, the Vietnam team will meet Morocco, who made a strong impression by defeating Iran 5-4 in the previous match.
Messi speaks out about retirement plans
Lionel Messi revealed that he does not set a specific age for retirement but will rely on his feelings to decide when to stop.
"When I feel like I can't play to my full potential, can't enjoy football or can't help my teammates, then I'll stop" - Lionel Messi spoke about his retirement plan in an interview with the Big Time program.
“Age is not a problem, I will decide to retire based on my feelings. If I still feel good, I will continue playing because it is the job I love and I know what I have to do” – The Argentine superstar added.
The 36-year-old striker said he still wants to play more and feels lucky to have achieved all his dreams. Lionel Messi also revealed that he always evaluates himself strictly.
“I haven’t thought about what I’ll do when I retire. Right now, I’m enjoying every day and not worrying about life after I hang up my boots,” the Inter Miami star shared.
Lionel Messi is currently struggling with an injury and has just missed the Argentina national team training camp. However, the Messi effect is still "causing a fever" in the MLS.
Recently, the New England Revolution Club announced that it has sold more than 60,000 tickets for the Inter Miami match on April 28. New England Revolution will break its attendance record if it sells the remaining 5,000 tickets to welcome Lionel Messi and his teammates.
Rafaelson dominates V-League Player of the Month award
V-League 2023/2024 will return this weekend with matches of round 14. As usual, the organizing committee held a vote for individual and collective awards for February 2024.
The February 2024 award is based on the performance of players and clubs from round 9 to round 13. Notably, Rafaelson was once again named Player of the Month. This means the Brazilian striker has dominated the award since the start of the season.
Previously, Rafaelson received both October and December awards. This is quite understandable because Rafaelson showed outstanding scoring form. He scored 14 goals, assisted 4 goals after only 13 matches in V-League this season, contributing greatly to helping Thep Xanh Nam Dinh lead the rankings.
In the period from round 9 to round 13 alone, Rafaelson's scoring form has somewhat declined. He only scored 3 goals in 5 matches. However, this striker has 2 more assists. Compared to other players in the V-League, his personal achievements are still outstanding.
The monthly award ceremony will be held before the match between Hanoi Club and Nam Dinh Steel Club, round 14 Night Wolf V-League 2023/2024, on March 31, 2024 at Hang Day Stadium./.
