Waiting for the day to go to France, Cong Phuong can play in V-League; Korea reaches the U20 World Cup final for the first time

Waiting for the day to go to France, Cong Phuong can still play in V-League

Cong Phuong may soon return to V-League 2019 in HAGL's shirt, once his trial in France fails.

After finishing the King's Cup, Cong Phuong is completing visa procedures to go to France for a trial. Before that, the striker of HAGL Club suddenly said goodbye to Incheon United after more than 4 months of playing.

According to information from HAGL, the team that Cong Phuong went to for a trial is Paris FC, the club that finished fourth in the French second division last season. The Vietnamese striker has about a month to convince the scouts there.

If successful, the striker born in 1995 will become the first Vietnamese player to play in France. Cong Phuong himself will continue to have the opportunity to show himself in a developing environment, after two unsuccessful trips abroad in Japan and Korea.

Revealing to the press, HAGL Club's CEO Nguyen Tan Anh said: "The person who introduced Cong Phuong to France for a trial was coach Guillaume Graechen, who is in charge of the HAGL JMG academy. According to research, this club in the French Second Division has a similar playing style to JMG's football philosophy, so Cong Phuong could be suitable for this team."

According to Mr. Tan Anh, Cong Phuong has been to France for training many times before, so French football is no longer strange to Cong Phuong. Having worked with coach Graechen for many years, the Vietnamese national team striker basically has no difficulty in communication.

Cong Phuong's future is uncertain.

Bau Duc and HAGL Club are hoping that Cong Phuong will be successful this time, because there has not been a Vietnamese player from the JMG system playing in France. Cong Phuong is one of the best players, and he is also determined to do "something" on this trip.

However, the question is, if Cong Phuong does not meet the requirements of the French team, how will the striker's talent be exploited? In fact, HAGL has also prepared for that situation. HAGL said that many other European teams have contacted him, wanting to create conditions for Cong Phuong to go for a trial. In the worst case, Cong Phuong can still play in the domestic league.

If Cong Phuong cannot play abroad, this striker may be registered by the mountain town team to play in the V-League, as a backup plan to avoid the situation where the Nghe An player has to "sit around doing nothing".

Coach Park doesn't care about the contract, only worries about the damage to the army.

It is clear that coach Park Hang-seo and the Vietnamese team came to the King's Cup not for the championship but the ultimate goal is still to defeat the Thai team, as well as review the force for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Mr. Pack continued to have severe headaches.

The review of the performance of his players that coach Park Hang-seo wanted also brought back some answers, so the tournament that the Vietnamese team recently participated in was considered a great success.

Through the two matches at the King's Cup, Mr. Park has certainly had some answers about his players' performance after a few months of separation since the Asian Cup ended.

And the most encouraging thing among the names whose form and ability to return to the field are still Cong Phuong, Trong Hoang, Tuan Anh, and even Van Kien, all of whom are playing relatively well.

The most satisfied of the names mentioned is Trong Hoang, this player from Nghe An played the full 180 minutes in the King's Cup and erased doubts about his form after not playing in the V-League since the beginning of the season.

But that alone is not enough to make coach Park Hang-seo feel secure when V-League returns with the fear of injuries like Dinh Trong's.

The success in terms of achievements and some questionable faces have had good answers, but that does not mean Mr. Park is less worried after the King's Cup ends.

It is completely possible to worry when the central defender pair currently playing for Viettel, Tien Dung and Que Ngoc Hai, did not play as well as expected. Bui Tien Dung continuously made mistakes and was substituted in both matches despite being in the starting lineup, while captain Que Ngoc Hai had a rather lackluster performance in the final match.

It must be remembered that both of the above central defenders will almost certainly be key players in the defense of the Vietnamese team in the near future, but with such inconsistent performance, it is really worrying.

It is even more of a headache when the Vietnamese team will be without Dinh Trong for 6-8 months due to injury, while in the V-League at this time there are not many good central defenders for Mr. Park to choose from.

V-League may be a lifesaver, but it is also something that the Korean strategist feels uneasy about for his students. The dense match schedule from the club to the national team and U23... makes the players have no chance to recover or rest, which will be a potential risk leading to injuries like Dinh Trong, for example.

So now that the players have returned to the V-League, more than anyone else, Mr. Park must pray that everything will go in the right direction, otherwise the upcoming World Cup qualifiers will not be easy for the Vietnamese team.

EURO 2020 Qualifiers: France and Germany race for big wins

In the next round of EURO 2020 qualifiers, host team Germany won an impressive 8-0 victory over Estonia while France also beat Andorra with a score of 4-0.

In Group C, Germany had their third consecutive victory in the EURO 2020 qualifiers when they defeated Estonia 8-0 at home. This was a match in which Germany gave Estonia almost no time to rest, continuously attacking and creating terrible pressure on Sergei Lepmets' goal.

Germany beat Estonia 8-0 at home.

Marco Reus (10', 37') and Serge Gnabry (17', 62') individually scored a double. The rest, Leon Goretzka (20'), İlkay Guendogan (pen 26'), Timo Werner (79') and Leroy Sane (88') each scored 1 goal. With a resounding victory, Germany is still temporarily ranked 2nd (9 points/3 matches) behind Northern Ireland - the team that struggled to defeat Belarus with a score of 1-0 to maintain the top position in Group C (12 points/4 matches).

Group C Ranking

In Group E, Slovakia surprisingly climbed to second place after a 5-1 victory over the underdog Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Ryan Giggs' Wales dropped to fourth place after a 0-1 defeat at Hungary. Thus, Hungary took the lead in Group E with 9 points after 4 matches.

Group E Ranking

Coming to Group H, the reigning World Champions France proved to everyone that the recent defeat to Türkiye was just an accident. The proof is that coach Didier Deschamps' team regained their spirit and defeated the host Andorra with a score of 4-0.

Meanwhile, Türkiye missed a great opportunity to take the top spot in Group H when they lost 1-2 to Iceland. Thus, in this group, there are 3 teams with 9 points but France is temporarily leading.

Group H standings

EURO 2020 qualifying round results

Table C

Belarus 0-1 Northern Ireland

Germany 8-0 Estonia

Table E

Azerbaijan 1-5 Slovakia

Hungary 1-0 Wales

Group H

Albania 2-0 Moldova

Andorra 0-4 France

Iceland 2-1 Türkiye

U20 World Cup Semi-Finals: South Korea and Ukraine Reach Finals

South Korea U20 once again made Asian football famous when they overcame formidable opponents Ecuador U20 to reach the final of the U20 World Cup for the first time. Before that, South Korea U20 won third place in the U20 World Cup in 1991 and 1993.

Back at Arena Lublin, coach Chung Jung-Yong's team had a resilient and determined match against Ecuador. The South American representative overwhelmed Korea with superior ball possession. However, Ecuador could not penetrate the opponent's organized defense.

South Korea reached the final of the U20 World Cup for the first time.

After many attacks but not scoring, Ecuador had to pay the price in the 39th minute. Starting from Lee Kang-In's smart pass from the left wing, Choi Jun intelligently escaped before perfectly curling the ball into the top corner to open the score for Korea. Winning 1-0, Korea advanced to the final of the 2019 U20 World Cup.

Their opponent in the match on June 15 is Ukraine. U20 Ukraine is rated much lower than the championship candidate U20 Italy. However, they played very well, making it difficult for Italy. It was not until the 65th minute that the tie was broken.

From the right wing, Konoplia crossed reasonably for Buletsa to run in and finish past goalkeeper Plizzari. 1-0 for Ukraine and like Korea, coach Petrakov's team also participated in the final for the first time.

U20 World Cup semi-final results

U20 Ukraine 1-0 U20 Italy

U20 Ecuador 0-1 U20 Korea

Schedule of next series

Third Place Match (01:30 June 15): U20 Italy vs U20 Ecuador

Final (11:00 p.m. June 15): U20 Ukraine vs U20 Korea

Khoi Nguyen