Ronaldo criticized as out of date; Messi injured ahead of 2022 World Cup

Ronaldo is criticized as out of date

In the 78th minute, Diogo Dalot stole the ball in the penalty area, beat goalkeeper Fabiano and then passed it to Ronaldo. In front of an open goal and about 5 meters away, the 37-year-old striker hit the post before bouncing to goalkeeper Omonia.

Ronaldo was disappointed after Man Utd won against home team Omonia Nicosia on October 6. Photo:AFP

"Sad to say this, but Ronaldo's time is up. He always misses good chances," Twitter account @M_GTR7wrote with a crying face emoji. "Hitting the post from 5m away against a no-name club like Omonia in the Europa League is Ronaldo's latest low," @COsoccerpodcomment.

@AJ121_footballThe account commented that Ronaldo's low confidence was the reason why he missed such a delicious opportunity. This account added: "Playing regularly will help Ronaldo shoot regularly again. However, this is still a shocking and unforgivable miss."

Ronaldo's only mark was a half-pass, half-shot to the far corner for Marcus Rashford to tap into an empty net to raise the score to 3-1 for Man Utd in the 84th minute. This is considered the Portuguese striker's first assist this season. "But perhaps only Ronaldo knows whether he intended to pass or miss the shot in this situation," British newspaperGuardiancomment.

Vietnam U17 players declare they are not afraid of Thailand U17

On the evening of October 7, U17 Vietnam faced Nepal in the second match of Group F. With 5 goals scored, Vietnam regained the top spot from Thailand, who defeated Chinese Taipei 3-1 in the afternoon of the same day. Both teams have 6 points, but U17 Vietnam is ranked higher thanks to a better goal difference (+9 compared to +5).

Sharing after the match, Coach Nguyen Quoc Tuan of U17 Vietnam said: “We are satisfied with the result. The reason why the team only scored 1 goal in the second half is because the coaching staff wanted to calculate for the final match against U17 Thailand. We wanted to avoid injuries, penalty cards as well as save energy for the whole team. So in the second half, we advocated playing with ball control and simple football.”

He continued: “At the 2022 Southeast Asian U16 Finals, Vietnam U16 won 2-0 against Thailand U16. If we were afraid of Thailand, it wouldn't have happened. Regarding the match with Nepal, I used a new tactic to win. Before the tournament, when the matches had not yet taken place, the opportunities were divided equally among the teams. But up to now, with the results after 2 matches, Vietnam and Thailand have shown more strength than Nepal and Chinese Taipei. More importantly, we are preparing for 15-16 year old players. This is the future of Vietnamese football.”

For his part, U17 Vietnam player Le Dinh Long Vu said: “We once won against Thailand with a score of 2-0. We prepared very carefully in terms of tactics and did not feel worried or afraid of our opponent Thailand. At this point, U17 Vietnam is leading with a goal difference of +9. We have the right to decide for ourselves. The team will focus on the upcoming match with U17 Thailand.”

Coach Urjan Shrestha of Nepal U17 shared: “Vietnam U17 is a very strong team. In the first 30 minutes, we made many mistakes and let the opponent score many early goals”. The match between Vietnam U17 and Thailand U17 will take place at 7:00 p.m. on October 9 at Viet Tri Stadium. As long as they do not lose in this match, Vietnam U17 will top Group F of the qualifying round and have a ticket to the 2023 AFC U17 Championship.

Messi out due to injury

On the night of October 7 (Hanoi time), PSG announced that Lionel Messi will not participate in the match against Reims this Sunday (October 9).

According to the club at Parc des Princes, Messi is receiving treatment. PSG will conduct a few more tests this weekend to ensure the health of the superstar born in 1987.

Messi leaving the field. Photo: AP

Messi was substituted in the 82nd minute of the Champions League group stage match against Benfica. Speaking to the press, coach Christophe Galtier said that his Argentine student was tired. "El Pulga" signaled to the coaching staff that he wanted to leave the field before being replaced by Pablo Sarabia.

Messi left the field early, but was still the player with the highest Sofascore rating of the match (8.2 points). The 35-year-old superstar had a 100% successful dribble rate, made 3 key passes, won 100% of duels and scored a beautiful opening goal from outside the penalty area.

This goal helped Messi make Champions League history as the first player to score against 40 different teams in Europe's most prestigious tournament, according to Opta.