Tickets for Vietnam team's match on sale; Bayern suffers unbelievable defeat

Tickets for Vietnam Team Competition on Sale

From today (March 9), the Vietnam Football Federation officially opened ticket sales to watch the Vietnam National Team play a friendly match against Cambodia (March 19) and meet Laos (March 25) in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Accordingly, tickets for the matches against Cambodia and Laos have 2 denominations including 200,000 VND and 400,000 VND, depending on the seat position at Go Dau Stadium (Binh Duong). The Organizing Committee allows each person to buy a maximum of 4 tickets through the citizen identification number or passport. Tickets are distributed exclusively through the OneU application (formerly VinID) in 2 phases: Phase 1 from 9:00 p.m. on March 9 to 11:59 p.m. on March 11, selling tickets for both matches; Phase 2 from 0:00 a.m. on March 12 to 11:59 p.m. on March 15, selling only tickets for the match against Laos. Tickets will be delivered via VietnamPost or received directly at Thu Dau Mot Post Office (Binh Duong) on ​​the match day if delivery is not possible. Time to receive tickets is 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. on March 19 (match against Cambodia) and March 25 (match against Laos).

Tien Linh injured before joining Vietnam national team

Ballon d'Or 2024Nguyen Tien Linh was injured in Binh Duong's 1-2 loss to The Cong Viettel, in round 16 of V-League 2024/25, right before the Vietnam National Team's gathering.

In the 75th minute of the match on the evening of March 8 in Binh Duong, after a collision, Tien Linh appeared to be in pain, needed medical attention and could not continue playing. He had to leave the field on a stretcher and apply ice immediately afterwards, causing many fans to worry.

Currently, the extent of this striker's injury has not been determined, but this is bad news for coach Kim Sang-sik as Tien Linh is the main striker of the Vietnam National Team.

According to the plan, the Vietnam team will start gathering from March 11 in Binh Duong. On March 19, the team will play an international friendly match FIFA Days with Cambodia. This is also a warm-up match for the match against the Laos team in the opening round of the 3rd qualifying round of the AFC Asian Cup 2027, taking place on March 25 at Go Dau Stadium.

If Tien Linh is absent, it will be a big loss when the Vietnam team has lost Xuan Son and Van Toan due to injury.

Nottingham win historic victory over Man City

On the night of March 8, Nottingham defeated Man City 1-0, thereby marking the first victory over their Manchester rivals in the Premier League era.

The away trip to the third-placed club in the Premier League was a difficult one for Man City. In the first half, the defending champions had 68% possession but only created one truly dangerous chance, a long-range shot from Nico Gonzalez that went just wide of the post in the 14th minute.

Before that, Erling Haaland also had a chance but he shot wide, even though the goal was wide open. Doku, the star with the best ability to create breakthroughs on the Man City side, also had to stay silent when facing full-back Ola Aina.

The game did not change in the second half, when Nottingham continued to play a difficult defensive game. Pep Guardiola refreshed the attack by sending Kevin De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush onto the field. However, the star duo could not make a difference against the concentration of the home team's defenders.

Man City were completely deadlocked, even almost conceding a goal in the 67th minute. Callum Hudson-Odoi dribbled and confidently shot from the 16.5m line. Ederson had to work hard to push the ball against the post to help the away team avoid conceding a goal.

In the 83rd minute, the home team had another chance. Man City pushed up the pitch, leaving a huge gap on the right flank. After Morgan Gibbs-White's long pass, Hudson-Odoi broke through, before beating Ederson with a powerful shot from a tight angle.

In the remaining time, Man City tried their best to find an equalizer but could not get a single shot on target. All Pep Guardiola's team could do was Mateo Kovacic's shot go wide of the post.

The match ended with a victory for the home team Nottingham. Coach Nuno Santo's team maintained 3rd place and had a chance to win the first Champions League ticket in history. On the other hand, Man City was stuck in 4th place and was at risk of being overtaken by Chelsea. Since the beginning of the season, "The Cityzens" have lost 9 matches, the same number as the previous 2 seasons combined.

Arsenal has a new sporting director

Arsenal are close to appointing former Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta to the key role at Emirates Stadium.

The Times revealed that the Italian is expected to sign a contract to become Arsenal's new sporting director early next week. Andrea Berta, 53, spent 12 years at Atletico Madrid, where he made his mark with a series of successful transfers.

The Italian sporting director left Atletico in January. In the summer transfer window of 2024 - his last at Atletico - Berta brought in two notable new players, Julian Alvarez and Conor Gallagher, contributing to the team's strength.

Berta has previously worked at Genoa and Parma in Italy, and was also linked with AC Milan. However, Arsenal beat out their rivals to successfully convince him. With extensive experience in talent discovery and transfer negotiations, Berta promises to bring a breath of fresh air to Arsenal.

Gunners fans expect Berta to help the team continue to compete at the top of the Premier League and go further in European competitions in the coming time. Arsenal spent nearly half a year looking for an official replacement for Edu after he unexpectedly left the position in November 2024.

Recently, Jason Ayto - Edu's assistant temporarily took on this role. Previously, 2 former Arsenal players, Per Mertesacker, Rosicky and Dan Ashworth, former Sports Director of Manchester United were also on the list of candidates for the hot seat at Emirates Stadium.

Bayern suffers unbelievable defeat

On the night of March 8, Bayern unexpectedly lost 2-3 to relegation-threating team Bochum in round 25 of the Bundesliga.

Bochum has always been Bayern's "favorite prey". At home, Bayern have not lost to opponents from the Ruhr region since 1991. However, the unthinkable happened at the Allianz Arena, when Vincent Kompany's team led 2-0 but let their opponents come back.

The first half was filled with plenty of action. Bayern scored three goals against Bochum, but only two of them were scored. Raphael Guerreiro shined to give the Bavarians the advantage.

It seemed that the home team had quickly settled the match, but the turning point came at the end of the first half, when Medic took advantage of a mistake by Bayern's defense to score a goal to reduce the score to 1-2. Not stopping there, Bayern also suffered a loss of personnel, when Joao Palhinha was sent off in the 43rd minute.

Bochum took advantage of their numerical advantage to attack right after the second half whistle. In the 51st minute, the home team's defense continued to show weakness in defending high balls. Ibrahima Sissoko comfortably jumped high to head the ball, bringing the match back to the starting line.

The nightmare continued for Bayern fans in the 71st minute. Leon Goretzka's error in intercepting the ball allowed Matus Bero to run in and finish close to the goal, sealing a 3-2 victory for Bochum.

Bayern fell at home but in the same match, Bayer Leverkusen also lost 0-2 to Werder Bremen. The gap between the two clubs on the rankings is still 8 points.