Coach Kiatisak officially says goodbye to Hoang Anh Gia Lai; Vietnam team faces Japan this afternoon

Coach Kiatisak officially says goodbye to Hoang Anh Gia Lai

Coach Kiatisak flew from Pleiku to Hanoi to sign a contract with the Hanoi Police Club and receive the handover of work from the capital team.

Representatives of the mountain town football team and representatives of the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Fan Club were also present at the airport to say goodbye to the 51-year-old coach, and at the same time, send wishes to Coach Kiatisak for a successful season with the new team.

Hanoi Police Club will also sign contracts with two former assistants of Coach Kiatisak, Bundit Thiabthong, Witoon Mingkwan (fitness coach) and a newly recruited Thai assistant interpreter.

Coach Vu Tien Thanh will replace Coach Kiatisak to lead Hoang Anh Gia Lai in the next phase of V.League 2023/24. The mountain town team plans to borrow about 5 players from Hanoi Police Club when the mid-season transfer market is active.

Asian Cup 2023 match schedule today (January 14)

The most anticipated match of the 2023 Asian Cup today (January 14) is the confrontation between the Vietnam and Japan teams. This is the first match of coach Philippe Troussier and his team in the tournament.

Asian Cup 2023 match schedule today January 14

18:30: Vietnam vs Japan

21:30: UAE vs Hong Kong (China)

0:30 (January 15): Iran vs Palestine

The Vietnamese team will begin their journey at the 2023 Asian Cup with a match against Japan. This is a very difficult challenge for Coach Troussier and his players because their opponents are the strongest team in Asia at the moment. In the latest FIFA rankings, Japan is in the top 20, while the Vietnamese team is only ranked 94th.

In the most recent confrontation between the two teams, the Vietnamese team (then led by coach Park Hang-seo) performed excellently and was very lucky to draw 1-1 with Japan away from home. However, repeating this result is not easy.

The Vietnamese team is facing many difficulties in the process of rebuilding its squad and playing style under coach Troussier. Meanwhile, Japan has been steadily improving after an impressive performance at the 2022 World Cup. Since the most recent tournament in Qatar, the team nicknamed the Blue Samurai has only lost one match. They have continuously won big in the preparation period for the Asian Cup.

Also tonight and tonight, two matches of Group C will take place. UAE vs Hong Kong (China) is a match with a big difference. The West Asian representative is rated higher and they need to win, even with a big score to compete for the top spot in the group.

The opponent that UAE must calculate to compete with is Iran. The number 2 team in Asia (ranked 21st in the world) will face Palestine in this round. This is also a match between 2 teams with a large gap in level.

Sancho shines right after leaving MU

After 140 days of absence, Jadon Sancho had his first match. The midfielder born in 2000 was brought on the field in the 55th minute to replace Jamie Bynoe-Gittens. Sancho played very energetically and only needed 22 minutes to make his first mark in the Bundesliga this season.

After his teammate's opening, Sancho broke through on the right wing, before passing just enough for Marco Reus to tap in close range, raising the score to 2-0 for Dortmund.

In just 22 minutes, Sancho has had more assists than Antony, who has been trusted by coach Erik ten Hag at Man Utd this season. After more than 1,200 minutes this season, Antony has yet to score or assist.

25 touches, one shot, one assist and a 100% challenge win rate are Sancho's statistics on his return to the pitch. He was rated 7.3 points by Sofacore, higher than even starting players like Julian Brandt or Niclas Fullkrug.

Sancho even almost scored a double assist, if Youssoufa Moukoko had taken advantage of the opportunity to face the goalkeeper in the 90+4 minute.

Sancho's shining might be good news for Man Utd. This player has no way to return to coach Ten Hag's squad. Therefore, the "Red Devils" hope Sancho plays really well, from there they can sell the 23-year-old player for the highest price possible in the summer transfer window of 2024.

Goals from Reus, Brandt and Moukoko gave Dortmund a 3-0 win. The first win after four draws and losses helped the Ruhr club continue to chase the top 4. At the moment, "Die Borussen" are 6 points behind 4th place.

Man City makes history after comeback win over Newcastle

On the night of January 13, Man City defeated Newcastle 3-2 in round 21 of the Premier League at St James' Park. The decisive goal was scored in the 90+1 minute when Kevin De Bruyne made a classy high pass for Oscar Bobb to score the decisive goal.

De Bruyne was the hero for Man City in this match. The Belgian midfielder came on in the 69th minute to replace Bernardo Silva, when the visitors were trailing 1-2, and immediately helped the Premier League champions turn the game around. Before assisting Bobb, De Bruyne directly equalized 2-2 for "The Citizens" with an impressive long-range shot in the 74th minute.

According to Opta, the moment De Bruyne defeated Martin Dubravka helped Man City create a historic milestone, which was scoring 100 goals against an opponent in the Premier League. Newcastle became the "victim" of the blue half of Manchester.

Before completing the emotional comeback at St James' Park, Pep Guardiola's team went through a difficult time. In the 8th minute, they lost their number 1 goalkeeper Ederson due to injury. The opening goal in the 26th minute, after Silva's skillful backheel, seemed to open up the game easily, but no, Newcastle suddenly rose up and responded with two equally beautiful masterpieces, respectively performed by Alexander Isak in the 35th minute and Anthony Gordon (minute 37).

With the advantage of leading, Newcastle deployed their signature defensive style of play. Despite creating many chances, Man City still could not equalize because the strikers, especially Julian Alvarez, wasted too many chances. The difference only came when De Bruyne entered the field.

The Belgian midfielder showed his superstar class with a low shot that went through Fabian Schar's legs and into the far corner of the goal. Pep Guardiola also showed his leadership ability when the player he sent on the field in the 82nd minute, Bobb, used his youth to eliminate Kieran Trippier, before scoring the decisive goal, bringing 3 points to Man City in the second half's injury time.

The third consecutive win helped Man City rise to second place with 43 points, just 2 points behind Liverpool.

Alcaraz to play Djokovic in Australian Open final

At a press conference ahead of the Australian Open (Australian Open, starting today, January 14), Alcaraz expressed his confidence when he scheduled a match with Djokovic in the final: “It motivates me. I am an ambitious person. I always want to compete with the best opponents in the world to see how good I am.

"Obviously it's a good test to play against him (Djokovic) in a tournament where he's almost unbeaten. I'm excited to get to the final and hopefully play him, it'll be great. I know the stats, it's definitely just a motivational boost for me."

Although Alcaraz has an appointment to play Djokovic, as the number 1 and number 2 seeds, the world's two top tennis players can only meet in the final (taking place on January 28), if both do not stop soon.

Last season, Alcaraz missed the tournament due to a hamstring injury while Djokovic won his 10th title and reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking from his younger rival. Before the tournament, Alcaraz traveled to Australia without coach Juan Carlos Ferrero and did not participate in any warm-up tournaments.