Hoang Anh Gia Lai lends Cong Phuong's successor; U23 Vietnam wins special friendly match

European Cup 1 results on March 15: Man City won 7-0, Inter Milan entered the quarterfinals

On the morning of March 15, the next two matches of the 1/8 round of the 2022/2023 European Cup C1 took place. Those were the competitions between Man City and RB Leipzig and Porto and Inter Milan.

After being held to a 1-1 draw by RB Leipzig in the first leg, Man City showed great determination in the second leg. On the day when "monster" Erling Haaland shone brightly with 5 goals, the young master of Manchester had a devastating victory over the German representative with a score of 7-0.

Erling Haaland became the third player in history to score five goals in a Champions League match after Luiz Adriano in October 2014 (Shakhtar Donetsk vs BATE Borisov) and Lionel Messi in March 2012 (Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen).

Porto bitterly said goodbye to the 2022/2023 European Cup C1. Photo: Reuters

Not only that, Erling Haaland also reached the 30-goal mark in Europe's top competition after only 25 matches. In history, no striker has reached the 30-goal mark as quickly as the Norwegian striker.

The remaining two goals of Man City in this match were scored by Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne. The final result after 2 matches, Man City won with a total score of 8-1 to enter the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, in the other match at the same time in Portugal, the home team Porto tried very hard and continuously fired at Inter Milan's goal, but could not score. Due to a 0-1 loss in the first leg, Porto had to watch the Italian representative enter the quarterfinals.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai lends Cong Phuong's successor

The player who took over the number 10 shirt ofCong Phuong, Le Minh Binh, will move to PVF - People's Public Security team in the First Division 2023 season after the first 4 rounds of V.League.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai said they have reached an agreement to loan the U22 Vietnam striker to a lower-division team. Minh Binh will leave on loan for one season to PVF-Cong An Nhan Dan Club in the 2023 First Division.

Le Minh Binh will play the rest of the 2023 season for PVF - People's Public Security Club in the First Division. Photo:Quang Thinh

Minh Binh inherited the number 10 shirt from striker Nguyen Cong Phuong. After the Nghe An star's contract with Hoang Anh Gia Lai ended and he moved to Japan to play, the number 10 was given to the player from Binh Phuoc.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai loaning Minh Binh is also an understandable decision when the team has 7 strikers, including 2 foreign players. Minh Binh staying will hardly have the opportunity to play much. Besides, coach Kiatisuk wants striker Nguyen Quoc Viet (born in 2003) to get acquainted with V.League.

At the same time, Hoang Anh Gia Lai promoted striker Hoang Minh Tien of Vietnam U20 to train with the first team. Hoang Anh Gia Lai's number 10 will be vacant when Minh Binh joins PVF-Cong An Nhan Dan. Young stars can conquer important shirt numbers if they perform well during the training period before V.League returns.

Coach Troussier debuts, U23 Vietnam wins special friendly match

On the afternoon of March 14, U23 Vietnam traveled to Viet Tri to play a friendly match with Phu Tho, a club playing in the First Division. This was a special match that did not welcome spectators or media to the stadium. In addition, at the request of coach Philippe Troussier, the match with Phu Tho Club was divided into 3 halves, each lasting 30 minutes.

It is clear that coach Philippe Troussier has a strong intention when using this format. He wants to give all the players a chance to try out different formations and tactics.

Coach Troussier instructs the players during the match. Photo: VFF

U23 Vietnam started strongly and scored the opening goal in the 6th minute of the first half thanks to Tran Manh Quynh. From a corner kick by Vo Minh Trong, Manh Quynh headed the ball into the home team's net.

However, it was not until the end of the second half,U20 Vietnamdoubled the gap after a beautiful central combination between Nam Truong and Van Huu, ending with an accurate shot by Van Huu. In the third half, U23 Vietnam could no longer maintain the pressure and let Phu Tho Club score 1 goal.

After the match, U23 Vietnam returned to the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center to continue preparing for the Doha Cup 2023 friendly tournament. Currently, the number of U23 Vietnam players is 32, with 4 new names added from the U20 Vietnam team.

Coach Troussier plans to reduce the squad to 25 to 28 players on March 18, before the U23 Vietnam team leaves for Qatar. The friendly match with Phu Tho Club is therefore of great significance to Coach Troussier as well as the players.

FIFA approves new format for 48-team World Cup

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has just approved a new format for the first World Cup with 48 competing teams, divided into 12 groups and an additional round.

In the new World Cup, 48 teams will compete for the gold trophy, compared to 32 teams before.

The group stage of the 2026 World Cup is divided into 12 groups of four teams each.

The new World Cup has 1 more round, 103 matches and lasts 40 days.

The top two teams in each group and the eight best third-placed teams will advance to the knockout stage.

The increased number of teams led to the addition of a round of 16 (or round of 32). The event spanned 40 days of competition, with a total of 103 matches, 40 more than the previous model.

MU's dream of recruiting Harry Kane was shattered for a surprising reason?

MU is said to be very serious about recruiting Harry Kane this summer transfer window, in the context that the 29-year-old striker only has 12 months left on his contract with his parent club Tottenham.

However, the deal that is considered a "blockbuster" of the Red Devils in this summer transfer window promises to face many difficulties, even according to many internal sources, MU's upper echelons consider this a "nightmare" transfer deal. The Red Devils of Manchester have even negotiated the content of the negotiations, and are preparing for the possibility that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy will intentionally "make things difficult".

Tottenham are reportedly willing to let Harry Kane leave for no less than £150m despite the striker having just 12 months left on his contract. Photo: Getty

Harry Kane is currently second in the Premier League's top scorer list so far this season, eight goals behind leader Erling Haaland but six ahead of Manchester United's top scorer Marcus Rashford.

The striker born in 1993 is still hungry to own a title at the club level after many years of empty hands with Tottenham, especially in the highest tournament in the foggy country. This is the reason why Harry Kane is said to be ready to say goodbye to White Hart Lane to move to MU - the team that just ended a 6-year title drought with the League Cup title.

Daniel Levy has always been known as a very difficult club president to negotiate with, especially when "letting go" of people. The British press assessed that Tottenham will likely "ask for" Harry Kane a price that far exceeds the 100 million pounds that Man City had to spend to recruit another English player, Jack Grealish, before.

Accordingly, the amount of money that MU will have to spend to get Harry Kane's signature this summer could be around 150 million pounds. This is an "unimaginable" transfer fee for a player who only has 12 months left on his contract and will leave on a free transfer if he chooses not to renew, meaning Tottenham will "lose" Harry Kane at the end of the 2024 season./.