Indonesia concerned as Vietnam pushes to naturalize players; First team enters FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals

Indonesia concerned as Vietnam pushes to naturalize players

The National Assembly has passed a law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality, reducing conditions for those wishing to acquire or regain Vietnamese nationality. The new Nationality Law also creates more favorable conditions for overseas Vietnamese players who wish to return to serve Vietnamese football.

Thanks to these groundbreaking changes, players of Vietnamese origin will be able to play for the national team without being hindered by previous barriers. PSSI President Erick Thohir is very interested in this. He emphasized that this is a breakthrough that Vietnam has achieved. It can even change the power map of Southeast Asian football.

"Yesterday, I saw an announcement that Vietnam will attract overseas Vietnamese communities around the world with changes in the law. This change will take effect from July 1," said the head of Indonesian football.

We see that there are many Vietnamese people in the US, Australia or other countries. Calling up these players will have a real impact on their national teams. Because those who are living abroad will be attracted to build their football."

With Vietnam and Malaysia pushing their naturalization policies, Indonesia understands that their rapid development by recruiting foreign players is unlikely to last long. Instead, the country must still focus on developing young players.

“I think we will be overtaken again in men’s football and still fall behind in women’s football if we don’t push for youth development,” admitted Erick Thohir. “We have to be serious about short-term and long-term programmes.”

Opening of the VTV Ferroli Cup 2025 international women's volleyball tournament

On the evening of June 28, the VTV Ferroli Cup 2025 International Women's Volleyball Tournament opened at Vinh Phuc Stadium with the participation of 8 teams from many continents.

The teams will be divided into 2 groups to compete in a round robin to determine rankings. Group A has 4 teams: Vietnam Team, Philippines Team, Sichuan Club (China) and Australia Team.

Group B consists of 4 teams: Vietnam U21 Team, Korabelka Club (Russia), Taiwan Team (China) and Thailand U21 Team. Many matches are broadcast live on foreign channels.

On the afternoon of June 28, two matches took place, U21 Vietnam lost to Taiwan (China) with a score of 0-3 and U21 Thailand lost to Korabelka (Russia) with a score of 2-3.

The tournament's award structure includes: Champion, Second Place, Third Place, Fourth Place, Style Award and Encouragement Award. In addition, there are individual titles for: All-round Athlete, Outstanding Attacker, Outstanding Middle Blocker, Outstanding Setter, Outstanding Opposite, Outstanding Libero and Miss VTV Cup Volleyball.

This is the third time hosting this tournament, promising to bring an exciting atmosphere and top matches to volleyball fans nationwide.

The VTV Ferroli Cup 2025 International Women's Volleyball Tournament is considered an important step forward for Vietnamese women's volleyball, while also preparing the force when the Vietnamese women's volleyball team sets the highest goal at the 33rd SEA Games.

The tournament takes place from June 28 to July 5, 2025.

First team to reach FIFA Club World Cup quarter-finals

On the morning of June 29, Palmeiras defeated Botafogo 1-0 to win a ticket to the quarter-finals of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

In the match between two opponents from Brazil who know each other very well, the main referee had a hard day, having to blow the whistle a total of 31 times for fouls by both sides, along with 12 yellow cards and 1 red card.

After a tense period, Palmeiras made the difference in extra time, thanks to a decisive goal from substitute Paulinho. They will wait for their next opponent after the match between Benfica and Chelsea.

The confrontation between two representatives from the same country rarely happens in this playground and from the first minutes, the match had a strong derby color with strong collisions and high tension.

Palmeiras appeared to be the dominant side in the first half, with Vitor Roque almost scoring from a cross by Joaquin Piquerez. However, the first half ended goalless, with referee Francois Letexier handing out yellow cards.

After the break, the game did not change much. Palmeiras was still the more proactive team, especially with the skillful dribbling of young talent Estevao. This player challenged goalkeeper John twice, but was either denied or caught offside. Meanwhile, Botafogo appeared to be stuck in attack.

As regulation time ended, the match entered extra time, which was not uncommon for Botafogo, whose last eight matches had ended 0-1. And then, the familiar scenario repeated itself. In the 100th minute, Paulinho, who had just been brought on, took advantage of a mistake by Botafogo's defense, getting past Marlon Freitas before coolly finishing from a corner to score the only goal of the match.

Botafogo pressed hard in the final minutes but could not find an equalizer. They even had an advantage when Palmeiras captain Gustavo Gomez was sent off in the 116th minute. However, the black and white striped team could not turn the situation around.

Nico Williams is being ridiculed for wanting to go to Barca

A mural honoring Nico Williams in the Lutxana neighborhood of the Basque Country (Spain) was the victim of vandalism again on the morning of June 28.

The image of Nico Williams that was restored just hours ago was unfortunately defaced.

This time, vandals painted his face blue and wrote harsh criticism on it.

On June 21, the painting was also attacked in a similar way, when his face was replaced with the words in Basque: “Whether you stay or go, you have lost respect.”

The move sparked a backlash and forced parties to step in to restore the painting.

Bilbao itself has also called on its fans to behave civilly, in the context of the tug-of-war with Barcelona over the possibility of recruiting the EURO 2024 champion that has not yet ended.

Street artist Carlos Lopez, who was responsible for the restoration, spent nearly 10 hours in the sun and about 900 euros in materials to restore the painting to its original appearance.

After being restored, the painting was widely shared on social media and received many compliments from players such as Inaki Williams (Nico's brother), Unai Gomez and Unai Nunez.

This work is a symbol of the spirit of attachment to the Basque country, and the football dream of the two Williams brothers.

However, this new act of vandalism shows that the controversy has not yet died down, while fans wait to see whether Joan Laporta – Barca president – ​​will pay the €58 million contract termination fee.

The protracted transfer saga that began in 2024 has caused great discontent among some Bilbao fans.

David De Gea teases Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has once again stunned the football world with his new contract with Al-Nassr, believed to be the most expensive sports contract in history.

However, not everyone was "serious" about this information - including David De Gea, Ronaldo's former teammate at Manchester United, who did not hesitate to make sarcastic comments on social media.

According to British media, the Portuguese superstar signed a two-year contract with Al-Nassr Club, worth up to 492 million pounds. This is an unprecedented figure in the history of sports, with a basic salary of up to 488,000 pounds per day - or about 5.6 pounds per second. Ronaldo also received a signing bonus of 24.5 million pounds, increasing to 38 million pounds if he continues to play for a second year, and holds a 15% stake in the club - worth an estimated 33 million pounds.

Faced with the "unbelievable" numbers, De Gea left a short but sarcastic comment under Ronaldo's contract announcement post on the X platform (Twitter): "And play football for free?", accompanied by a laughing emoji and wide eyes.

De Gea and Ronaldo played together during a brief but tumultuous time at Manchester United. Both left Old Trafford amid controversy: Ronaldo left after an explosive interview criticising coach Erik ten Hag, while De Gea was released as a free agent in the summer of 2023, making way for Andre Onana.

However, the personal relationship between the two stars is still very good. They maintain regular interactions on social networks, and De Gea has commented on Ronaldo's posts many times.