Vietnam U19 'hero' absent from 2020 season; Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer value drops dramatically

Coach Chung Hae Soung "offers advice" on adjusting V.League match schedule

Talking to the media about the change in the V.League match schedule due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Coach Chung Hae Soung said: "In case the Covid-19 pandemic lasts too long, the V.League can adjust the match format. Instead of playing 2 home and away matches, we can only play 1 home and away match.

Of course, who plays home or away will be a matter of luck. After the first leg, we can divide the teams into two groups, each group of 7 teams from the top half of the table and 7 teams from the bottom half of the table to play the play-off round, in a round-robin format.

Coach Chung Hae Soung.

The Korean coach affirmed that this is just his personal opinion, in case V.League does not have much time left to compete due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Coach Chung Hae Soung also emphasized that all changes must prioritize the tournaments of the national teams.

Vietnam U19 hero absent in 2020 season

Coach Nguyen Duc Dung decided not to include Tran Thanh in Hue's squad. During the preparation for the 2020 First Division, the former U19 Vietnam player suffered a relapse of his right knee injury. Tran Thanh had to stop training.

Tran Thanh in the U20 Vietnam jersey in the match against U20 Honduras. Photo: Quang Thinh

In March 2019, Coach Park Hang-seo called up this player to prepare for the U23 Asian Qualifiers at My Dinh Stadium. However, Tran Thanh was eliminated because he did not recover from his injury in time.

Tran Thanh was the author of the goal of U19 Vietnam in the final round of U19 Asia 2016 in the match against U19 Bahrain. This striker's header helped U19 Vietnam win 1-0 and earn the right to play in the FIFA U20 World Cup 2017 for the first time. He injured his right knee before the tournament but recovered in time.

Covid-19 epidemic, how many football teams in V.League reduce player salaries?

The coaching staff and players of Saigon FC voluntarily reduced their salaries by 20% to share the financial burden with the team during the break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision was made after an internal meeting of Saigon FC on April 13.

Accordingly, the board members and players agreed to reduce their April salaries by 20%, in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic still "freezing" domestic sports activities.

Many football teams in V.League reduce player salaries. Illustrative photo

Vietnam faces difficulties in running to host Asian Cup 2027

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) is facing difficulties in its bid to host the 2027 Asian Cup, as the VFF's plan to have Southeast Asian countries jointly host the event was recently rejected by other members.

Vietnam faces difficulties in its plan to host the 2027 Asian Cup.

Historically, Vietnam has hosted the Asian Cup once in 2007 with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. And in the upcoming bid, VFF still wants 4 Southeast Asian countries to jointly organize the continent's biggest football event, but Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have all rejected VFF's proposal. All 3 plan to run for the bid themselves.

Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer value has dropped dramatically

The outbreak of the epidemic has severely affected the value of football superstars. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are no exception.

According to Transfermarkt, Cristiano Ronaldo's value has dropped from £67.5 million to just £54 million due to the impact of the epidemic. CR7's value is now only half that of Lionel Messi. The Argentine superstar's value has also dropped from £135 million to £108 million.

Ronaldo's price has dropped significantly at the age of 35. Photo: Getty