Laos defeated Malaysia in the U23 Southeast Asian tournament; 5 members of U23 Vietnam infected with Covid-19
(Baonghean.vn - Laos caused a shock in the U23 Southeast Asian tournament, when they came from behind to defeat Malaysia 2-1 in the first match of Group B on the afternoon of February 18; Before the match with Singapore, U23 Vietnam had 4 players and an assistant coach infected with Covid-19, these are the outstanding sports news today.
Laos defeated Malaysia in the U23 Southeast Asian tournament
When referee Abdul blew the final whistle, the Lao players cheered and celebrated. Some jumped up, others knelt down and gave thanks. On the sidelines, coach Han Michael Weiss and his assistants hugged and danced.
The 2-1 result at Prince Stadium helped Laos defeat Malaysia for the first time in 10 years at all levels. This victory also opened the door to the semi-finals for Coach Weiss and his team. Because Indonesia and Myanmar both withdrew due to many players infected with Covid-19, Group B had only two teams. Therefore, the organizing committee decided to let Malaysia and Laos play two home and away matches to determine the only ticket to the next round.
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| Laos (red shirt) defeated Malaysia in the match at Group B of the U23 Southeast Asian tournament on February 18. |
Being underestimated, Laos chose to start the game slowly, concentrating the majority of their troops in their home field to defend in multiple layers. In the 45th minute, from a high pass that eliminated the entire Lao defense, Selva had a chance to face but could not beat goalkeeper Keo Oudone. In the corner kick immediately after, the ball was poured to the far post for Selva. This time, he did not miss with a shot into the near corner.
Squandering the opportunity, Malaysia had to pay the price. From a moment of brilliance from captain Bounphachan Bounlong in the 56th minute, Laos equalized. The player born in 2000 received the ball in front of the penalty area, dribbled past two opposing defenders and then broke free to shoot decisively past goalkeeper Sikh Izhan. In the 79th minute, Bounphachan took a free kick for defender Phetdavanh to head in, raising the score to 2-1. Laos then put all their squad into defense, kept the ball to waste time and successfully maintained their advantage over Malaysia. The two teams will play the second leg on February 21.
5 members of U23 Vietnam infected with Covid-19
On February 18, U23 Vietnam conducted a rapid Covid-19 test. The result was 5 positive cases. After the training session on the evening of February 17, several members of U23 Vietnam showed signs of fever. To be proactive in disease prevention, the medical team of U23 Vietnam immediately conducted rapid tests for all team members.
Immediately after the results were available, the team's doctors immediately separated the suspected infected players into separate rooms and reported to the organizing committee to take the next steps as prescribed.
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| U23 Vietnam prepares for the U23 Southeast Asian tournament in Cambodia. |
The deadline for substitution registration is 12 hours before kick-off. The substitution must be from the preliminary 35-man registration list or other players who meet the required standards. This decision was made at noon on February 17 to avoid the tournament being heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.
Hoang Duc wants to play abroad
Having just won the 2021 Vietnam Golden Ball, midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc shared about himself and memorable memories in his football career on television. The Hai Duong player has many regrets. He also thinks he is quite lucky in some aspects.
However, the midfielder's biggest regret was missing a great opportunity in the match against U20 New Zealand in the group stage of the U20 World Cup in 2017. If he had successfully scored in that situation, Hoang Duc and U20 Vietnam would have had a huge advantage to enter the knockout round.
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| Hoang Duc wants to go to Korea or Japan to play in the near future. Photo: VFF |
He also said that he has been tested by coaches in many different positions such as defender, center back, and winger. However, Hoang Duc still finds that the central midfielder position is his favorite and best position. In addition, the player from Hai Duong also hopes to play abroad in the future.
