Indian coach sends 'war letter' to Vietnam team; Russia banned from EURO 2024

Indian coach sends "challenge letter" to Vietnam team

Coach Igor Stimac of the Indian team affirmed his ambition to win against the Vietnamese team and the Singapore team to win the international friendly tournament at Thong Nhat Stadium.

Coach Igor Stimac attended the pre-tournament press conference just hours after the entire Indian team arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in the early morning of September 21. According to the match schedule, the South Asian team will face Singapore on September 24 and Vietnam on September 27.

The Croatian coach highly appreciated the strength ofVietnam teamand the Singapore team when sharing: “Vietnam and Singapore are two highly competitive teams. They have many talented young players. It will be great to see the young players demonstrate their abilities on the field in the upcoming matches”.

Notably, the Indian team did not have the strongest squad when coming to Vietnam, but Coach Igor Stimac confidently affirmed that the team's goal was to win the international friendly tournament at Thong Nhat Stadium.

Coach Igor Stimac at the press conference on the morning of September 21. Photo: Huu Khoa

“We brought here a squad that is considered to be the youngest compared to other teams. It is difficult to say that this is the strongest force of the Indian team because we are in the process of renewing. We also do not have any players playing abroad, but that will come soon because we have a clear direction for football development. Moreover, Indian football has a lot of potential because it is a large country, with many football fans as well as participating in training and playing football” – Coach Igor Stimac said.

The Indian team captain added: “First of all, we want to check the form of the players in the current Indian team. Of course, when participating in the tournament, we always want to win, want to win the championship trophy. I think the Vietnam team and the Singapore team also think the same. In football, anything can happen.”

Chelsea director fired for sexually harassing female partner

New Commercial Director Damian Willoughby has just been fired by Chelsea after accusations of sexual harassment of a partner.

"Chelsea can confirm that they have terminated the contract of Commercial Director Damian Willoughby. The decision is effective immediately," the London club announced on September 21. "We have full evidence of the negative messages sent by Mr. Willoughby, consistent with previous allegations."

"Although the messages were sent before Mr. Willoughby worked for the team, that behavior is completely contrary to the working environment and culture that Chelsea is building," the Stamford Bridge team emphasized.

Portrait of the Director who was just fired by Chelsea.

Damian Willoughby was appointed as Chelsea's commercial director in early September. However, he soon lost his job. Football finance expert Catalina Kim accused Chelsea's leadership of regularly sending harassing and suggestive messages.

According to Sun Sports, the matter became serious because Ms. Kim was a major partner and wanted to invest in the Stamford Bridge team. Faced with Mr. Willoughby's indecent requests, the famous football financial broker in England immediately sent a complaint to his superior, CEO Tom Glick.

The Times revealed that Mr Willoughby had been sexually harassing Ms Kim since last summer, when Ms Kim asked Willoughby to introduce her to Man City CEO Ferran Soriano.

Russia banned from EURO 2024

In a statement on its website, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) confirmed that the Russian team is not allowed to participate in the EURO 2024 qualifiers. UEFA said: “All Russian teams are suspended by the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee from February 28, 2022, the decision was approved by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on July 15, 2022. Therefore, the Russian team is not included in the draw for the EURO 2024 qualifiers.”

UEFA also added that, despite being involved in the incident with the Russian team, the Belarus team was still included in the EURO 2024 qualifying draw.

Russia will not be allowed to participate in EURO 2024. Source: Getty Images

This is the second major tournament in a row that Russia has been banned from due to the armed conflict with Ukraine. Previously, the team was eliminated by FIFA from the play-off round for a ticket to the 2022 World Cup in March this year. In addition to this ban, UEFA has also upheld the ban on Russian clubs from competing in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League this season and possibly next season.

With Russia banned from EURO 2024, the qualifying round for the European Championship will see 53 teams divided into seven groups of five and three groups of six. The top 10 teams in each group and the 10 runners-up will advance to the finals. The remaining three spots will be decided in a play-off round in March 2024.

In the EURO 2024 finals hosted by Germany, the national team has a place in the finals as hosts. The EURO 2024 qualifiers are expected to last about 1 year, from March 2023 to March 2024. The EURO 2024 finals will take place in Germany from June 14 to July 14, 2024./.

Coach Park Hang-seo: Young players have created trust

On the evening of September 21, the Vietnamese team had their opening match against the Singapore team in the 2022 international friendly tournament organized by the Vietnam Football Federation. This tournament is part of the preparation process for the 2022 AFF Cup.

After 90 minutes of official competition, with superior strength, the Vietnamese team easily won with a score of 4-0. Throughout the victory of the Vietnamese team, many young faces had the opportunity to show and prove their talents.

Coach Park Hang-seo wants to create 2 squads that can compete in 2 friendly matches.

Speaking after the match, Coach Park Hang-seo said that the Vietnamese team is starting a new phase, with new challenges and needs to prepare for the AFF Cup. Therefore, it is impossible to say who is the main player at this time.

"Before the match, I also said that in this training session, we have 10 players under U23 and my first goal is to increase the cohesion of the playing style and test new players. Of the 6 young players on the field, except for Van Khang, the rest all played for 45 minutes or more. In terms of tactics, the young players are still somewhat confused and have difficulty adapting. However, in terms of fighting spirit, at least they have created trust in me" - Coach Park Hang-seo said.

The Korean coach also said that through the two matches, he wants to create two competitive squads. Therefore, other players of the Vietnamese team will be given the opportunity in the match against India 6 days later.

For his part, Singapore coach Nishigaya Takayuki said: "In my opinion, the strength of the Vietnamese team is the ability to maintain a high-intensity match from the first minute to the 90th minute. The Vietnamese team has many good players and played well in the match."

According to the Japanese coach, this is a match for young Singaporean players to learn and gain experience. In the future, the players of the Lion Island will adapt to matches like this. At the same time, he also believes that, at the AFF Cup, the Singapore team will play even better.