FIFA mentions Vietnam football participation in World Cup; Real Madrid receives shocking news about Bellingham
FIFA's official fanpage recalls the 2017 miracle of the Vietnam U20 team; Huynh Nhu returns to the Vietnam women's team; Real Madrid receives shocking news about Bellingham... are notable sports news in the past 24 hours.
FIFA mentions Vietnamese football participating in World Cup
The official fanpage of the World Football Federation (FIFA) today unexpectedly mentioned the miracle of the U20 World Cup 2017 of the Vietnam U20 team, the generation of Quang Hai, Van Hau, Dinh Trong...
Seven years ago, U20 Vietnam became the first and only 11-man men's football team of Vietnam to qualify for a FIFA World Cup.
Finishing fourth in the U19 Asian Cup helped coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team make history and win tickets to Korea in a spectacular way.
"You wake up in 2017 and meet these young men again...", FIFA wrote, posting pictures of Quang Hai, Van Hau, Dinh Trong, Duc Chinh, Bui Tien Dung when they were young...
VFF also shared this image with the comment: "FIFA recalls the memories of the U20 Vietnam team players participating in the FIFA U20 World Cup 2017 for the first time in history. 7 years have passed, those players are still working hard to contribute to Vietnamese football, including the pillars of the national team such as Quang Hai, Hoang Duc, Tien Linh... ".
At the U20 World Cup 7 years ago, U20 Vietnam was in Group E with France, Honduras and New Zealand. In the opening match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team excellently held New Zealand to a 0-0 draw, but lost to France 0-4 and Honduras 0-2, regrettably stopping.
Anyway, many names have grown up since then and are now pillars in the club and national team, such as Quang Hai, Hoang Duc, Van Hau, Tien Linh...
Russian newspaper assesses the strength of Vietnam and Thailand teams
During FIFA Days in September 2024, Vietnam (ranked 115th in the world) will participate in the Four Nations friendly tournament with the participation of two very high-quality guest teams: Russia (ranked 33rd) and Thailand (ranked 101st).
Before the 3 teams met, Championat (Russia) analyzed: "The Vietnamese team only won 1 out of 7 matches in 2024. That was the match they won 3-2 against the Philippines in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June.
After that, the Vietnamese team lost both matches to Indonesia and Iraq. They also failed in the Asian Cup when they lost all 3 matches. In 13 matches in 2023, the Vietnamese team had 6 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws.
Overall, it is still not possible to call the Vietnamese team a team with good ability to defeat. Throughout history, the Vietnamese team has participated in the Asian Cup 3 times (2007, 2019, 2023) and reached the quarter-finals 2 times (in the first 2 times).
The team did not participate in the World Cup but won the AFF Cup twice (2008, 2018) and finished 2nd in 2023 (lost to Thailand in the final)…”.
Meanwhile, the Thai team is rated higher by Championat: "The Thai team is the leader of Southeast Asia, the team plays more solidly, they entered the knockout round at the recent 2024 Asian Cup.
In January 2024, Thailand lost 0-5 to Japan in a friendly match. And in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, they lost twice to South Korea, drew with China and finally beat Singapore.
Overall, the Thai team seems to be a much tougher opponent than the Vietnamese team. We expect the level of resistance in the match against Russia to be very high."
The Russian newspaper continued to cite evidence: "The Thai team regularly participates in the Asian Cup. Although they do not qualify for the World Cup, they are constantly present at the decisive stages of the AFF Cup."
Therefore, Championat concluded: "The Thai team is the strongest team in Southeast Asia. Therefore, this team should definitely not be underestimated."
Huynh Nhu returns to Vietnam team
On August 23, a group of players from the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Club arrived in Hanoi to join the Vietnam Women's National Team. Prominent on this list are striker Huynh Nhu, along with coach Doan Thi Kim Chi and goalkeeper coach Nguyen Thi Kim Hong.
At the training session, the Vietnamese women's team elected an executive committee including captain Huynh Nhu and vice captains: Kim Thanh, Hai Yen, Diem My.
To improve the physical strength of the newly assembled players, Coach Mai Duc Chung arranged for these players to practice in the gym under the guidance of Coach Doan Thi Kim Chi and Coach Nguyen Thi Kim Hong. The team is currently maintaining a frequency of 2 practice sessions per day, ready for the upcoming training trip to the Czech Republic.
Sharing her experience after a tour in Spain, Huynh Nhu said that the Vietnamese women's team has a stable force, but needs to make more efforts to compete with opponents in the region.
“The Philippine women’s team, like other Southeast Asian teams, are developing. They have a naturalization policy, so it creates a big challenge for the Vietnamese women’s team. I believe the coaching staff has a training plan. At the same time, in the future, I hope there will be overseas Vietnamese players contributing to the Vietnamese women’s team, during the period when we are transferring forces,” said Huynh Nhu.
After finishing the training trip in the Czech Republic, Huynh Nhu will return to join Ho Chi Minh City I.
Next season, Huynh Nhu and Ho Chi Minh City Club I will compete in the Asian Women's Cup C1, facing opponents Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), Taichung Blue Whale (Taiwan, China) and the winner of the play-off round of group B.
According to the regulations, 8 teams will go straight to the group stage, including Ho Chi Minh City I. 14 teams will play qualifying rounds to find 4 spots in the group stage.
Real Madrid received shocking news about Bellingham
After opening La Liga 2024-25 with a disappointing draw at Mallorca, Real Madrid continued to struggle with Jude Bellingham's injury.
The English player suffered the injury during training at the Valdebebas center on Friday (August 23), while preparing for the match against Valladolid (10pm on August 25).
Bellingham suffered a heavy blow to the back of his right knee and had to limp out of training.
Real Madrid's medical department immediately conducted tests and concluded that he had "an injury to the muscle behind his right leg".
Bellingham's injury was to a thin muscle that not everyone has, located at the back of the knee and has a long tendon that runs between the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the heel, next to the Achilles tendon.
After testing, Real Madrid's medical department assessed that Bellingham would be out for about a month, which corresponds to a muscle tear.
The injury means Bellingham will miss five La Liga games (Valladolid, Las Palmas, Betis, Real Sociedad and Espanyol).
Bellingham will also be forced to sit out Real Madrid's Champions League title defence, which is scheduled to take place on September 17 or 18.
In addition, Bellingham cannot participate in the first training session of the new England team, playing friendly matches with Ireland and Finland.
This is the second serious injury Real Madrid have suffered since the start of the new season, the first being Camavinga, who suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee just before the European Super Cup.
Gundogan officially re-debuts for Man City
Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has officially returned and debuted for Man City on a free transfer after just one season away from the Etihad Stadium.
On Man City's homepage, the German midfielder held up a shirt with his name on the back. After confirming his departure from Barca on his personal page, Gundogan flew to England, completed a medical examination before signing a contract with the Premier League champions.
Not in Hansi Flick's plans, Gundogan was forced to leave to free up the £17m salary he currently earns at Barca. There were many rumors that he would play in Saudi Arabia, but in the end the German player reunited with his old coach Pep Guardiola.
Accordingly, Gundogan signed a 1-year contract with The Citizens with an option to extend for 1 year. To reach this agreement, Gundogan had to sacrifice a lot. The German midfielder agreed to give up the remaining 2 years of his contract with Barca (losing 17 million pounds) and the salary that the Catalan team still owed him.