VFF leaders encourage coach Philippe Troussier and his team; Many seeds eliminated from Australian Open
(Baonghean.vn) - The Vietnamese team returned to training to prepare for the final group stage match against Iraq and received encouragement from VFF leaders; Malaysia was eliminated from the Asian Cup early; Many seeded women's singles players were eliminated from the Australian Open... are notable sports news in the past 24 hours.
VFF leaders encourage coach Philippe Troussier and his team
Yesterday (January 20), the Vietnamese team returned to training to prepare for the final group stage match against Iraq. Although they did not have a chance to advance, coach Philippe Troussier and his team still maintained the spirit of the "Golden Star Warriors", moving forward with positive thoughts and actions.
Because they had just finished a match, coach Philippe Troussier divided the team into two groups. The group of players who started the match against Indonesia went to the gym and recovered at the hotel. The remaining group of players went to the training ground to continue practicing tactics and maintaining their physical strength in preparation for the match against Iraq, which will take place on January 24.
Coach Philippe Troussier said that the Vietnamese team's loss to Indonesia in the decisive match for their chance to advance in Group D was a disappointing result. However, the French coach still expressed his pride in his players when he saw them play with a spirit of not giving up and trying until the last second.
The French coach affirmed that the whole team will try their best to achieve the best result in the final match before ending the journey at the 2023 Asian Cup Finals.
Standing side by side with the team in Qatar, VFF Vice President Tran Anh Tu and General Secretary, Head of the Vietnamese team at the 2023 Asian Cup Finals Duong Nghiep Khoi also encouraged and motivated Head Coach Philipe Troussier, members of the coaching staff and the whole team, affirming that VFF always accompanies the team, continues to create the most favorable conditions for the team to move towards the goals ahead. In particular, the immediate task is to play well in the final match of the 2023 Asian Cup group stage against Iraq, followed by the journey in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, with 2 important matches against Indonesia next March.
Malaysia follows Vietnam in being eliminated early
The match between the two bottom teams in Group E, Bahrain and Malaysia, attracted much attention because the losing team was considered to be eliminated early, having lost both their opening matches. Despite their best efforts and creating a balanced match, Malaysia conceded the only goal in the extra time to be eliminated early and quite painfully.
Having lost their opening match, both teams fielded their strongest squads. With superior physical strength and depth, Bahrain started the match better. In the first 15 minutes, Bahrain dominated the game, but dangerous opportunities were not clear against Malaysia's solid defense.
On the other side of the field, Malaysia played quite low and only gradually regained control of the game after about the 20th minute. In the second half, Bahrain continued to play better and continuously created many dangerous situations in front of the opponent's goal.
As the match progressed, the pressure became heavier on the Malaysian side. It was thought that the match would end in a draw, but in the extra time, Bahrain scored the “golden goal” to win the match. From a corner kick, the ball bounced to Ali Madan’s feet, this midfielder fired a low shot from outside the 16m50 box, the ball did not go too dangerous but the Malaysian goalkeeper was out of sight and was defeated quite painfully.
Losing their second consecutive match, Malaysia was eliminated early before the final round after two consecutive losses. In Group E, Jordan and South Korea both have 4 points, sharing the top two positions. Next is Bahrain with 3 points, Malaysia with 0 points.
Breaking the losing streak, Arsenal temporarily rose to 3rd place in the Premier League
In the late match of round 21 of the Premier League, the home team Arsenal treated the home audience to a feast of eye-catching attacking football in the London derby against Crystal Palace. Currently, the "Gunners" have climbed to third place on the rankings.
Entering the match, Arsenal launched an attack as soon as the opening whistle blew. The pressure from the Gunners was so great that Crystal Palace could only huddle together in defense, waiting for a counter-attack opportunity.
Without having to wait too long, in the 11th minute, Crystal Palace's net shook, from a corner kick by Declan Rice, center back Garbiel jumped high to head the ball, opening the score 1-0 for the match.
Having taken an early lead, Arsenal played with more confidence and organized a high formation to look for a second goal. Facing the continuous attack from the "Gunners", Crystal Palace's net shook once again. In the 37th minute, also from a corner kick, center-back Garbiel ran smartly and jumped high to head the ball, raising the score to 2-0 for Arsenal.
In the second half, with nothing left to lose, Crystal Palace pushed up their formation to attack but still could not reach Arsenal's goal. The attack failed, the away team quickly paid the price. In the 59th minute, from a counter-angle situation, the home team organized a counter-attack from goalkeeper Raya's position. The ball was quickly brought to the penalty area on the other side of the field, then Gabriel Jesus passed the ball and Trossard scored.
Despite their best efforts to attack, Crystal Palace did not have much of the ball to play with. Arsenal completely dominated the ball control thanks to the midfield's ability to hold the ball.
In the 90+3 minute, after losing the ball in the midfield, Nketiah made a smart pass for Gabriel Martinelli to run up and accurately score, raising the score to 4-0 for Arsenal.
In the 90+6 minute, Gabriel Martinelli completed his double after a long pass from Jorginho. The Brazilian striker's task was very simple as he easily finished to increase the score to 5-0.
The resounding home win helped Arsenal temporarily climb to third place with 43 points after 21 matches, equal to Man City but behind due to a lower goal difference.
Leverkusen temporarily leaves Bayern 7 points behind
In the match between Leipzig vs Leverkusen in round 18 of Bundesliga 2023/24, the away team had to work very hard to come back and win 3 points.
In the 7th minute, Leipzig took the lead thanks to Simons. Thanks to a good pass from the left wing by Schlager, Simons kept the ball and turned to shoot low and dangerously into the near corner, opening the score for Leipzig.
Behind, Leverkusen quickly adjusted their formation and regained control of the ball, but against a Leipzig side that played sharply and with precision in the first half, the away team, despite having moments of great pressure on the opponent's goal, could not find an equalizer.
It was not until the second half that Leverkusen equalized thanks to Tella in the 47th minute with a simple tap-in from the left wing after Leipzig's defense "forgot" to mark him. In the 53rd minute, Leipzig took the lead 2-1 again after a quick shot from Openda.
Leipzig's joy only lasted until the 63rd minute before Tah equalized 2-2 for Leverkusen. The following time saw both sides create many attacking moves towards each other's goal. However, only Leverkusen found the winning goal to make it 3-2 in the 90+1 minute. With this result, Leverkusen continued to leave Bayern Munich far behind on the rankings when they were 7 points ahead of their opponents but played 2 more matches.
Many women's singles seeds eliminated at Australian Open
The women's singles event of the 2024 Australian Open is continuously receiving "earthquakes". Most recently, number one seed Iga Swiatek unexpectedly lost to 19-year-old Russian player Linda Noskova with the score of 6-3, 3-6, 4-6.
Before that, the number one seed Elina Rybakina lost to Blinkova with the same score of 1-2. The notable point in that match was that the two players went through 42 points in the tie-break of set 3. The score of this series was 22-20 in favor of Blinkova.
Looking a little more broadly, we can see that four of the top six seeds in the women's singles at the 2024 Australian Open were eliminated after the round ended. In addition to Swiatek and Rybakina, Jessica Pegula (seed number 5) and Ons Jabeur (seed number 6) were eliminated.
With a series of heavyweight opponents eliminated, the chance of winning the 2024 Australian Open for No. 2 seed Sabalenka and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff is very high. In the fourth round, Sabalenka meets Anisimova, while Coco Gauff faces Magdalena Frech.
