MU makes an incredible comeback to enter the Europa League semi-finals; Revealing 3 foreign referees of round 19 of V.League

MU makes incredible comeback to enter Europa League semi-finals

In the early morning of April 18, MU was down 4-2 until the 113th minute of extra time but still beat Lyon 5-4 in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the European Cup 2.

Manchester United took fans on a roller coaster of emotions for 120 minutes at Old Trafford. The Red Devils were flying high in the first half and led Lyon 2-0. However, the Premier League side were left disappointed when their opponents equalized 2-2 just before the end of regulation time.

Despite having one more player in extra time, MU played sluggishly, allowing Lyon to unexpectedly take the lead 4-2. It seemed that coach Ruben Amorim and his team's journey in the Europa League had ended, but no, the home team rose up strongly and scored 3 goals in 7 minutes, from 114 to 120+1, thereby completing the comeback with a score of 5-4.

In the end, MU won a ticket to the Europa League semi-finals with a total score of 7-6 after 2 matches. The "Red Devils" next opponent is Athletic Bilbao.

Goal:

MU: Ugarte (10'), Dalot (45'+1), Fernandes (114'), Mainoo (120'), Maguire (120'+1)

Lyon: Tolisso (71'), Tagliafico (78'), Cherki (105'), Lacazette (109'-pen)

Red card: Tolisso (Lyon, 89')

Van Dijk signs new contract with Liverpool, earns record high salary

Virgil Van Dijk has just signed a 2-year contract extension with Liverpool, becoming the highest paid defender in Europe at £400,000/week.

Van Dijk's previous contract with Liverpool was due to expire in June 2025. After several positive negotiations, the Dutch star agreed to extend his contract until June 2027.

This is great news for Liverpudlians, following Mohamed Salah's commitment to stay with the Anfield team for another 2 years last week.

Speaking about the new contract, Van Dijk was excited: "I feel happy and very proud. Obviously there are many emotions in my head when talking about this. Feeling proud and happy. It's unbelievable. My career journey can be extended for 2 more years at Anfield. This is great!".

According to exclusive sources from The Athletic, Van Dijk's new contract will help him pocket 400,000 pounds per week.

That means Van Dijk will become the highest paid defender in European football, above Real Madrid's David Alaba (receiving £360,000/week).

Coach Ancelotti officially leaves Real Madrid

On the evening of April 17, Sky Sports (Spain) unexpectedly reported that less than 24 hours after Real Madrid was eliminated by Arsenal, Ancelotti will resign as Real Madrid coach after the Copa Del Rey final next Sunday against rivals Barcelona, ​​​​who are currently leading the La Liga standings with a four-point lead over Real Madrid. The final in Seville will take place after Real Madrid's La Liga matches at home to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday and away to Getafe next Wednesday.

Brazil are hoping to appoint former Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Napoli and Everton coach Carlo Ancelotti with talks now expected to be in full swing.

Reflecting on the defeat to the Gunners, Ancelotti said: "Arsenal were better than us. We tried our best. Maybe the penalty that was called off (Declan Rice was initially penalised for a foul on Kylian Mbappe in the box) was a turning point. That could have changed everything. But Arsenal defended very well. We had difficulty finding space. We played better than usual in terms of intensity but it was not enough."

Revealing 3 foreign referees of round 19 of V.League

VPF announced that 2 matches of round 19 of V.League 2024-2025 will have foreign referees. Those are the matches between Dong A Thanh Hoa and The Cong Viettel (Thanh Hoa Stadium, 6pm on April 19) and Song Lam Nghe An and Quang Nam (6pm on April 20). The foreign referees invited to officiate this time are from Thailand and Malaysia.

Specifically, Mr. Warintorn Sassadee and Mongkolchai Pechsri (Thailand) participated in the match at Thanh Hoa Stadium. One person took on the role of main referee and the other was in charge of the VAR room. VPF has not announced the specific assignment of duties for these two referees.

Referee Warintorn Sassadee will then continue to officiate the match between SLNA and Quang Nam. In addition, this match will also have another FIFA referee on duty, Mr. Razlan Joffri Bin Ali. The Malaysian referee just officiated the match between Hanoi and Thanh Hoa in round 17.

Mr. Mongkolchai Pechsri is a FIFA-level referee who has worked in Vietnam in previous seasons. Referee Mongkolchai has experience working in the V.League since 2016 when he officiated the match between Binh Duong and Thanh Hoa in 2016.

This is the prestigious "black shirt king" of Thailand. In addition to refereeing matches in the Thai League, he regularly works in the AFC Champions League and international matches at the national team level. At the AFF Cup 2024, Mr. Mongkolchai Pechsri was the fourth referee in the match.Vietnam team drew 1-1 with Philippines in the group stage.

Mr. Waringtorn Sassadee is also not a stranger to Thanh Hoa FC. This referee participated in the match between Thanh Hoa FC and Terengganu (Malaysia) in the group stage of the Southeast Asian Cup 2024-2025 season.

AFF finalizes host of 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament

In the latest announcement on the morning of April 17, AFF decided to choose Indonesia to host the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament. This is the tournament in which U23 Vietnam is the defending champion.

According to initial information, AF chose Thailand to host the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament in August. However, in the final decision, AFF decided to choose Indonesia as the venue for the regional football tournament for the under-23s.

This is the first time the archipelago nation has officially hosted the tournament since 2005. As planned, the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship will take place from July 15 to 31, 2025 in Indonesia.

After 4 times of organization,U23 Vietnamis the most successful team with 2 consecutive championships in 2022 and 2023. In the past time, VFF and coach Kim Sang Sik created conditions for young players with potential to compete, gain experience in international tournaments and even wear the national team jersey.

At the upcoming U23 Southeast Asian tournament, since the Vietnamese team is not involved in any tournaments, it is very likely that coach Kim Sang Sik will personally lead U23 Vietnam to defend the championship title./.