Thailand fires head coach Nishino; Lukaku refuses to return to Chelsea

Thailand fires head coach Akira Nishino

Gloom is the dominant color surrounding fans' opinions about the dismissal of the Football Association of Thailand.Coach Akira Nishino.

The official page of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) on social media announced the termination of the contract with coach Nishino and received a strong reaction from fans. Most expressed disappointment that the "War Elephants" fired the coach when the results were not as expected.

Fan Book Supakorn commented: "Be ashamed of the Vietnamese fans who have gone far beyond us. If you still think and change like this, then change the whole federation. Fans want the Thai team to go further."

Coach Nishino was fired on July 29. Photo:Quang Thinh

"I am so ashamed of Vietnam. Where will this coach go? Go out and find someone with knowledge and let them do the job," fan Nema shared.

The decision to fire coach Nishino was made in an online meeting on the evening of July 29. The FAT made the decision even though the Japanese coach's contract still had 6 months left. The reason was that the Japanese coach failed to complete the goal in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup.

This means that Mr. Nishino does not need to lead the U23 Thailand team in the upcoming Asian qualifiers. The FAT Technical Development Board will look for a successor in the near future. According to Siamsport, a list of candidates has been prepared.

DPRK withdraws from 2022 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers, AFC decides to redraw

AFC U23 Championship 2022 QualifiersThere continues to be a change in the number of participating teams after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea officially sent a document to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) requesting not to participate in the tournament.

With the DPRK withdrawing from the race at the 2022 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers, Group K has only two teams left: Japan and Cambodia.

Therefore, based on the regulations of the tournament, AFC decided to adjust the number of teams participating in group K by drawing lots to transfer one team from the remaining 4 groups of the East Asia region, including groups G, H, I and J to group K.

According to the AFC announcement, the draw to transfer 1 team to Group K will be conducted based on the seeding rankings of the teams and the drawing principles for the Qualifying Round which took place on July 9, 2021.

Coach Park has listed 30 U22 players.

All teams from Group G to Group J will be placed in 1 pot, except for the teams in 1st place of the respective Groups and the Host Teams so as not to affect the balance in the groups and the preparation for hosting the group.

With this principle, 8 teams will be determined to be drawn to move to Group K including: China and Brunei (Group G), Timor Leste and Philippines (Group H), Myanmar and Hong Kong China (Group I), Malaysia and Laos (Group J).

The first team drawn will move into Group K in first place, replacing the DPRK. Therefore, Group K will have 3 teams and one of the groups from Group G to Group J will be reduced to 3 teams.

According to the draw results, the U23 Vietnam team is in Group I with Myanmar, Hong Kong China and host Chinese Taipei.

With the above adjustment decision of AFC, the group of U23 Vietnam is completely capable of having 3 teams left: Vietnam, Myanmar, Chinese Taipei or Vietnam, Hong Kong China, Chinese Taipei.

The draw to transfer 1 team to Group K will be conducted by AFC at 2:00 p.m. (Vietnam time) on August 11 and will be broadcast live on The AFC Hub youtube channel.

Lukaku refuses to return to Chelsea

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Lukaku has no intention of returning to Chelsea despite being pursued by the team in the summer of 2021.

Lukaku has been playing very well since moving to Inter Milan. In the 2020/2021 season, the Belgian striker scored 24 goals and 10 assists to help Inter Milan win the Serie A championship.

Luakua does not want to return to Chelsea (Photo: Getty).

At EURO 2021, the former Chelsea player also played very well for the Belgian national team. Therefore, the striker born in 1993 is of interest to many teams, especially in the context of Inter Milan having to sell a series of key players for financial reasons.

Among the clubs interested in Lukaku is Chelsea, the Belgian striker's former team. Coach Tuchel wants to bring to Stamford Bridge a quality striker to increase his ability to damage and finish off opponents.

Despite being pursued by Chelsea, according to information from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Lukaku does not want to return to The Blues. Instead, this player wants to continue to stick with Inter Milan.

Lukaku's contract with Inter Milan currently runs until the summer of 2024. Despite financial difficulties, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Inter Milan's board of directors has no intention of selling the Belgian striker this summer./.

MU still wants to recruit 2 more stars

In addition to Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, Manchester United also wants to add Declan Rice and Kieran Trippier to the squad in the summer transfer window of 2021.

Manchester United are the most expensive team in the summer transfer window this year. The "Red Devils" have recruited Jadon Sancho for 73 million pounds, Raphael Varane for 41 million pounds. However, these two stars have not yet satisfied coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Norwegian coach still wants to strengthen the midfield with a quality holding midfielder, Declan Rice. The England international can help Paul Pogba freely develop his ability on the attacking front. In addition, MU is keeping an eye on Kieran Trippier. The former Tottenham player can come to Old Trafford to compete for the position that is normally reserved for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Thanh Hien