Portugal coach targets historic win over Vietnam; PSG finalizes striker to replace Mbappe

Determining the first two teams to pass the group stage of the 2023 Women's World Cup

The first teams to enter the round of 16 of the 2023 Women's World Cup were determined after the second round of matches in Group C on the afternoon of July 26. There were no surprises in this group when the two strong teams showed their superiority and quickly won the right to continue.

The Spanish women's team defeated Zambia 5-0. Before that, Japan easily defeated Costa Rica with a 2-0 result. This means that Spain and Japan are sure to advance to the group stage. The final match between these two teams is just a formality to decide the top spot.

The Spanish women's team leads Group C with 6 points and a goal difference of +8, while the Japanese women's team is second with 6 points and a goal difference of +7. Zambia and Costa Rica have no points and are certain to be eliminated.

This was predicted before the tournament took place, because Zambia and Costa Rica are low-ranked teams with little international experience. Zambia is ranked 77th and Costa Rica is 42nd. Meanwhile, Japan (ranked 11th) and Spain (ranked 7th) are both candidates for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and even obstacles in the race to the 2023 Women's World Cup title.

In the final match of Group C, the Japanese women's team and the Spanish women's team will face each other and find out who will top Group C. Spain has the advantage of only needing a draw to win the group, while the Japanese women's team must defeat their opponent.

Another group that has gone through 2 matches is group A. At the moment, Switzerland has 4 points leading the group, New Zealand is ranked 2nd but has the same points as the team behind, the Philippines, both have 3 points but the home team is ranked higher due to the extra index. Former World Cup champion Norway has played poorly and has only got 1 point.

All four teams still have a chance to advance. In the final match, Norway will face host New Zealand while the Philippines will face Switzerland. If they win or draw with their European opponents, the Philippines can secure a ticket to the next round.

PSG closes striker to replace Mbappe

According to RMC, PSG identified Harry Kane as the right striker to replace Mbappe in the coming period. The French football giants are quite confident about being able to recruit the England international from Tottenham because they are willing to pay the full price of 100 million pounds as requested after selling Mbappe.

According to reliable information, PSG President Al-Khelaifi has a good relationship with Tottenham partner Daniel Levy. The two met earlier this week to talk about football projects.

This relationship could be key to the negotiations to bring Harry Kane to Paris. The French football champions have decided to sell Kylian Mbappe, after parting ways with Lionel Messi last month.

Recently, many teams have expressed interest in recruiting Harry Kane, including Premier League's Man United. However, Tottenham has no intention of selling their star to their Premier League rivals, even though Kane really wants to move to MU.

After Foot RMC revealed that Messi also told President Al-Khelaifi to bring Harry Kane to Paris during PSG's end-of-season evaluation session.

Portugal coach aims for historic win over Vietnam

Commenting on the match against Vietnam, Coach Francisco Neto of the Portuguese Women's Team said: "For us, every match at the World Cup is meaningful. The match againstVietnam women's teamsame. The Vietnamese women's team will definitely play defensive counter-attacks. They will create danger against Portugal. Vietnam is a well-organized and brave team."

Although highly appreciating Huynh Nhu and his teammates, Coach Francisco Neto still affirmed that Portugal's goal in this match is to win.

“I believe that Vietnam will continue to use fast players to serve the defensive counter-attacking style of play. We will have to prepare carefully to have a response plan. The goal of the Portuguese Women's Team is still to win.”

The Portugal-Vietnam match will take place at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton. This is an advantage for the European representative because it was here that Coach Neto and his team beat Cameroon 3-2 in the intercontinental play-off to win a ticket to the 2023 World Cup.

"We are very familiar with that stadium, it's like Portugal's home stadium. The whole team will try to take advantage of this, play strongly and with determination," Mr. Neto emphasized.

Wrexham striker suffered a punctured lung in a friendly win over MU

Wrexham FC striker Paul Mullin suffered a punctured lung in a 3-1 friendly win over Manchester United in San Diego, California (USA).

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson confirmed that Mullin suffered a punctured lung after colliding with goalkeeper Nathan Bishop when the MU goalkeeper rushed out to block a long ball.

Mullin was also Wrexham’s top scorer last season with 46 goals in all competitions. After the collision, he was treated by doctors and given oxygen. However, the 28-year-old was forced to leave the field before being substituted and taken to hospital.

After manager Parkinson revealed Mullin had a punctured lung, Wrexham boss and Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds wished him a speedy recovery on the X platform (predecessor of Twitter).

“Paul Mullin fought to the last drop of blood in everything he did. The entire Wrexham AFC community is united in wishing him a speedy recovery,” Reynolds wrote./.