Quang Hai leaves open the possibility of returning to Europe; Hanoi FC targets 1m85 tall Korean central defender

Thailand won all 3 matches in the U17 Asian tournament.

On the evening of June 21 (Hanoi time), U17 Thailand won 1-0 against U17 Yemen to take the top spot in Group A of the 2023 AFC U17 Championship finals.

Thailand U17 and Yemen U17 are rated higher than the two opponents in the group, Malaysia U17 and Laos U17. In fact, both won their first two matches and quickly qualified for the quarter-finals of this year's AFC U17 Championship.

Therefore, the direct confrontation between Thailand and Yemen in the final round will have a decisive meaning for the top position. As soon as the referee's whistle blew, the two teams continuously launched attacks towards the opponent's goal.

Before the end of the first half, Radman put the ball into the net of Thailand U17 from a pass from midfielder Mohammed Fadhel. However, the referee raised the flag for offside and did not recognize the goal for the representative from West Asia.

After the break, Thailand and Yemen continued to create an attractive attacking game. Yemen even had at least two dangerous situations that could have resulted in goals. However, luck did not smile on Yemen.

In the final minutes, the home team pressed the field strongly. Their efforts were rewarded in the 90+5 minute. Chanasorn Choklap made a dangerous pass from a free kick situation for two teammates to head the ball. Tanakrit was the last to touch the ball, sending it into the net, leaving the Yemeni goalkeeper stunned.

The remaining time was too short for U17 Yemen to find an equalizer. In the end, U17 Thailand won 1-0 to take the top spot in Group A, while Yemen was temporarily satisfied with second place. The opponent of the "Little War Elephants" in the quarterfinals will be the second-placed team in Group B.

Hanoi FC targets 1m85 tall Korean central defender

Hanoi Club is aiming to recruit 1m95 tall Korean player Lee Jae-ik, currently on the payroll of Seoul E-Land.

This central defender is 24 years old this year and is currently valued at 350,000 euros (nearly 9 billion VND) by international transfer website Transfermarkt.

In the past, Lee Jae-ik played abroad for Al-Rayyan SC (Qatar) and Royal Antwerp (Belgium) and was with the Korean U20 team to win the world runner-up position at the 2019 U20 World Cup.

This season, Lee Jae-ik has played 1077 minutes for Seoul E-Land in 13 matches. This is also the team where midfielder Van Toan is playing.

In addition to recruiting Lee Jae-ik, the capital team is planning to borrow central defender Luong Duy Cuong from Da Nang Club to strengthen the defense when V.League enters an important stage.

What is Vietnam's FIFA ranking after two consecutive wins?

The Vietnam national team had its first two matches under coach Philippe Troussier in the FIFA Days series last June. The result was a 1-0 victory over Hong Kong (China) and Syria respectively.

According to the calculations of Football Ranking, the two victories above helped the Vietnam team gain 8.53 points. However, coach Troussier and his team still maintain their 95th place on the FIFA rankings because the opponents ranked above them also performed impressively in the recent FIFA Days matches. Most impressively, Armenia jumped 7 places to 90th place after a 2-1 victory over Latvia in the EURO 2024 qualifiers.

On the bright side, Vietnam will move up one place to take over 15th place in Asia from Palestine. The West Asian team was held to a 0-0 draw by Indonesia before losing 0-2 to China. Those two results caused Palestine to lose 6.17 points and fall from 93rd to 96th in the world, and to 16th in Asia.

In Southeast Asia, the Vietnam team still maintains the No. 1 position. Meanwhile, Thailand moved up one place to 113th in the world thanks to a 1-1 draw with Taiwan (China) and a 1-0 win over Hong Kong (China). The Philippines also moved up one place to 135th in the world.

The latest FIFA rankings are expected to be announced on July 20.

Quang Hai leaves open the possibility of returning to Europe

Fersini Michele Donato, representative ofQuang Hai, said the Vietnamese national team star left open the possibility of returning to Europe.

"It is understandable that a player has difficulty with ball feel or confidence because he does not play football regularly. However, Quang Hai will soon shine again. Like in this match, Hai played much better than in the match against Hong Kong (China) 5 days ago," said Quang Hai's representative.

According to Mr. Fersini Michele, all the information surrounding Quang Hai's future that the press has recently published "is not true". "There is nothing official yet", he said, "That is the reason I am here to work with the parties. Currently, Quang Hai has a few options, but I cannot reveal more as Hai is still joining the national team. He needs to focus fully on the team"./.