Home team disappoints, Chinese press makes shocking comments about AFC; Southeast Asian team sets record for naturalized players at Asian Cup 2023
(Baonghean.vn) - Vietnam U20 women's team gathers to prepare for Asian tournament; Home team disappoints, Chinese press makes shocking comments about AFC; Southeast Asian team sets record for naturalized players at Asian Cup 2023... are notable sports news in the past 24 hours.
Vietnam U20 women's team gathers to prepare for Asian tournament
Head coach Akira Ijiri has called up 23 players of the Vietnam U20 women's team to prepare for the 2024 AFC U20 Women's Championship finals.
Accordingly, the Vietnam U20 women's team will gather on January 15, starting the first training session in 2024. The focus of this training session is towards the U20 Asian Women's Finals held in Uzbekistan next March.
In this training session, coach Akira Ijiri summoned 23 players, including names that have performed well such as Ly Linh Trang, Ngan Thi Thanh Hieu, Le Hong Yeu, Do Thi Anh My and Danh Thi Kieu My...
In addition, according to the plan, coach Akira Ijiri and his colleagues are also considering and will continue to call up players with good performance in the recent national women's football championship to strengthen the force for the Vietnam U20 women's team.
Coach Akira Ijiri and his team will train at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center from January 15 to February 29, 2024, before leaving for Uzbekistan on March 1, 2024.
Home team disappoints, Chinese press makes shocking comments about AFC
China disappointed when they only earned 1 point against Tajikistan in the opening match of Group A of the 2023 Asian Cup on the evening of January 13.
Although China did not play as well as their opponents, they were the team that put the ball into Tajikistan's net in the 81st minute. At that time, midfielder Xie Pengfei kicked a corner kick from the right into the penalty area for defender Zhu Chenjie to jump up and head the ball into Tajikistan's net. Referee Mohammed Al Hoish initially allowed the goal, and Tajikistan's players did not complain.
VAR then intervened, judging that defender Jiang Guangtai was in an offside position and pushed the Tajikistan player on the goal line. Slow-motion replays showed that Guangtai's impact on the opponent was not too strong and he was not in the path of the ball going into the net.
Referee Al Hoish, after watching the slow-motion replays several times, decided to cancel the goal because he judged the Chinese player to be offside. This situation caused outrage in the Chinese media, who all spoke out against the referee, even claiming that the AFC "treated China unfairly for giving up the right to host."Asian Cup 2023".
"I said before the tournament that the referee would make things difficult for China," said football expert Ma Dexing, deputy editor-in-chief of Titan Sports magazine. "The referee's decision was forced because Guangtai had no involvement or intervention in the situation. It's clear that the referee has a problem with China."
"Chenjie's goal was blatantly stolen because China has no one in the AFC," Dexing added. "From the time China withdrew from hosting the tournament to this goal, it can be seen that the AFC wants to retaliate against the team."
The famous online newspaper Sohu also attacked the referee with harsh words such as: "VAR robbed China of three points", "The referee disgraced Asian football" or "A big controversy broke out and it's not the first time China suffered losses from the AFC".
Southeast Asian team sets record for naturalized players at Asian Cup 2023
Malaysia is the team with the most naturalized players among the 24 teams participating in the 2023 Asian Cup, with a total of 14 people.
Specifically, coach Kim Pan-gon has 4 naturalized players including Endrick Dos Santos, Mohamadou Sumareh, Paulo Josue, Romel Morales, along with 10 mixed-race players including: Matthew Davies, Daniel Ting, Dominic Tan, Junior Eldstal, Dion Cools, La'Vere Corbin-Ong, Stuart Wilkin, Brendan Gan, Natxo Insa and Darren Lok.
The use of naturalized players has been popular in Southeast Asia over the past decade, with the aim of improving the quality of the national team, "skipping stages" to achieve results as quickly as possible.
However, not many teams have been successful with this policy. In Malaysia, the football federation's leaders are facing criticism because this method wastes money while international performance is disappointing.
"The Malaysian team should justify the use of 14 naturalized players by at least reaching the second round of the ongoing Asian Cup in Qatar. If they can do this, the policy of using naturalized players may be supported in future tournaments, otherwise, perhaps it is time to reconsider," commented the New Straits Times.
Will Benzema ever join MU?
Spanish media confirmed that MU plans to recruit Karim Benzema in January 2024.
"Benzema is a shock target for MU," Manchester Evening News commented. The French striker scored 12 goals in 20 matches for Al Ittihad, but seemed to have problems in Saudi Arabia.
MU has a bright chance of pursuing Benzema at this time. The Old Trafford team needs personnel on loan because they do not have enough funds to buy. On the contrary, according to Goal, Benzema is said to be fed up with life in the Middle East.
Benzema is said to fit into MU's plans. In fact, the "Red Devils" once failed to buy Benzema. In 2009, coach Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that MU tried to recruit this striker to replace Cristiano Ronaldo. However, Real Madrid was quicker.
Benzema's arrival at Old Trafford at this time may not be surprising, after MU brought in seemingly impossible contracts such as Raphael Varane or Casemiro./.