Looking back at Vietnamese football in the year of the Dragon; FIFA recalls the miracle of Changzhou

Vietnamese Football in the Year of the Dragon: From Disappointment to the ASEAN Cup Crown

January 2024,The Vietnamese team under the guidance of coach Troussier entered the Asian Cup with confidence. However, the belief in the French strategist who had led many teams to participate in the World Cup was quickly extinguished.Vietnam Teamfailed to get out of the group stage after three consecutive defeats.

The 0-3 defeat at home at My Dinh Stadium was the last straw that forced Mr. Troussier to leave early. But this is not the end of the crisis of Vietnamese football in 2024.

The replacement was coach Kim Sang Sik, who had little time left and only brought about modest initial results.

The crisis of Vietnamese football does not stop at the Vietnamese national team, because it spreads to the youth team levels when the U23 Vietnam team stopped at the quarter-finals of the Asian tournament, the U19 team lost miserably in both the regional tournament and the continental qualifiers... That makes the fans' faith even more depleted, even unbelievable after many years at the pinnacle of glory.

Concerns about a collapse continued until the first matches of the ASEAN Cup 2024, at which time the Vietnamese team, although already knowing victory, had not yet created confidence in their playing style against opponents rated lower such as Laos, Indonesia...

It was not until Nguyen Xuan Son appeared on the field, creating a new atmosphere for the Vietnamese team that the atmosphere became more bustling and attracted more attention. Not only bringing goals and a fiery playing spirit, this naturalized striker also stimulated the veterans in the team to find the inspiration to play football again, which seemed to have been exhausted before.

The Vietnamese team, which initially had little expectation, easily went straight to the final before "blowing away" defending champion Thailand from Viet Tri to Rajamangala with two eye-catching victories, winning the ASEAN Cup 2024 for the third time.

FIFA recalls the snow-white miracle of Changzhou of U23 Vietnam

January 27 marks the 7th anniversary of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship final between Vietnam U23 and Uzbekistan U23 in Changzhou, China.

Despite the regrettable 1-2 loss after 120 dramatic minutes under the pouring snow, coach Park Hang Seo and his team are still considered champions in the hearts of domestic football fans.

Remembering that historic journey, the FIFA World Cup page posted a status line"In the future, whoever mentions Thuong Chau...", with the image of the "Golden Star Warriors" in the final match.

Notable among them was the moment Quang Hai and his teammates celebrated the super goal "Snow Rainbow" to equalize the score 1-1, along with the image of central defender Do Duy Manh planting the red flag with yellow star on the white snow, touching the hearts of many football lovers in the country.

In the comments section below,FIFA also posted a picture of the whole team hugging each other to celebrate the masterpiece considered the symbol of the tournament, with the caption:"Exactly 7 years since this moment"

Mr. Shin Tae-yong boasted that "he had an invitation" after being fired by Indonesia.

Coach Shin Tae-yong ended his 5-year journey working in Indonesia when he boarded a plane to return to his hometown in Korea on the night of January 26. Many fans and media came to the airport to see him off.

Speaking to the press, Mr. Shin denied the information that he was invited by the Indonesian Football Federation to be the Technical Director, after receiving a notice of dismissal on the morning of January 6.

However, the person who led the Korean team to the 2018 World Cup revealed: "There have been offers from other countries, but right now I want to rest first."

Mr. Shin returned home with 8 fellow Koreans, who have been assistants to the Indonesian national team and U23 team for over 5 years.

According to an assistant, all 8 of them had their contracts expire on December 31, 2024 and PSSI did not ask for a contract extension. This proves that PSSI decided to fire coach Shin Tae-yong and his team early, right after the ASEAN Cup 2024 - a tournament in which Indonesia stopped at the group stage.

Mr. Shin still has a contract with PSSI until the end of 2027. The fact that PSSI must compensate the Korean coach for the remaining 3 years of his contract has become a topic of interest to the Indonesian media and public after the decision to fire him.

MU piles up money to break Nico Williams' contract

MarketWinter transfer is entering its final days (ending 3/2), in whichMU and Nico Williams attract a lot of attention.

The Spanish winger has long been the focus of some of Europe's top football clubs.

According to Spanish press, MU and some Premier League representatives are ready to pay enough cash to get his signature.

Specifically, Nico Williams' contract release clause with Bilbao is worth 58 million Euros (about 48.8 million Pounds). This figure is considered not too high compared to the current player market.

Barcelona approached Nico last summer but were unable to pay the full amount Bilbao demanded. So the EURO 2024 champion stayed in Bilbao.

With an impressive performance in Bilbao,Nico Williams continues to receive interest from big, ambitious clubs.

His pace, dribbling skills and ability to create chances made him one of the brightest talents in Spain, as well as European football.