Indonesian star declares to play against Vietnam; 2 Vietnamese women's volleyball players join Thai club

FIFA Rankings 2023: Vietnam Team No. 1 in Southeast Asia, Top 15 in Asia

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has just announced the rankings of national men's teams in December 2023, which is also the ranking that ends this year.

In December,Vietnam teamdid not play a single match, so there was no change in the score. Therefore, the "Golden Star Warriors" ended 2023 at 94th place in the world.

Coach Philippe Troussier and his team continue to be the top team in Southeast Asia and ranked 15th in Asia. The Thai team ranked 2nd in Southeast Asia (ranked 113th). The Malaysian team ranked 3rd in the region, maintaining its FIFA ranking of 130.

Compared to the previous update in November, the FIFA rankings only had two changes: Colombia overtook Mexico to take 14th place, and the position of the Solomon Islands team.

Leading Asia is still Japan (ranked 17th), followed by Iran (ranked 21st), South Korea (ranked 23rd), Australia (ranked 25th), Saudi Arabia (ranked 56th),...

Meanwhile, reigning World Cup champions Argentina reign at the top of the FIFA rankings in 2023. The next positions in the top 10 are France, England, Belgium, Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia.

Asian Cup 2023: Applying semi-automatic offside detection technology

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said that semi-automatic offside technology (SAOT) with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) will be applied in all matches at the 2023 Asian Cup Finals.

This makes the AFC the first continental federation to apply SAOT at a national team tournament, after the technology debuted at the 2022 World Cup and received high praise from experts and fans.

SAOT technology uses 12 specialized cameras to accurately track the position of the ball and players on the field. All body positions related to offside are identified.

Previous VAR technology took a long time to draw lines and determine offside players, but still caused controversy. SAOT overcomes this weakness by accurately and quickly checking offside errors using AI and issuing warnings in real time. The data points used to determine player and ball positions will be created into 3D animations that will be displayed on large screens in the stadium, and also provided to TV stations to show to fans to ensure transparency.

The 2023 Asian Cup finals are considered a small-scale event, but hosts Qatar hope the tournament will attract record audiences and elevate Asian football to a higher level. SAOT is a technology that even the Premier League has not applied.

The 2023 Asian Cup finals will take place from January 12 to February 10, 2024, with 24 teams divided into 6 groups. The teams will compete in a round robin to select the 6 first-place teams, 6 second-place teams and 4 third-place teams with the best results to advance to the round of 16.

Indonesian star declares to play against Vietnam team

The Indonesian team has just announced a preliminary list of 29 players for a short training session in Türkiye, in preparation for the 2023 Asian Cup.

Coach Shin Tae Yong has called up nine players currently playing abroad, alongside a number of naturalized players. Marc Klok and Jordi Amat are two of Indonesia's naturalized veterans, playing an important role in the tactics coach Shin Tae Yong has developed.

Veteran Marc Klok, also of Dutch origin, is excited about the new wind in the Indonesian team. "I think it's definitely a tough group," Marc Klok told the Indonesian press about Group D of the 2023 Asian Cup, which will take place between January 12 and February 10, 2024. "Iraq is very strong, we saw that last month," the 30-year-old commented. This is the opponent that Indonesia just lost 1-5 in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

"Of course, we also know the truth that Japan is at a different level than Indonesia," Klok continued. "Vietnam can be at the same level as the Indonesian team," Klok said of their Southeast Asian rivals.

"However, we have to look at each game, focus on our quality and also adapt to playing against each opponent, how to defend, how to take advantage of opportunities. It's certainly not easy, but everyone knows that nothing is impossible in football."

Experts say Vietnam and Indonesia will compete for third place in Group D.

2 Vietnamese women's volleyball players join Thai club

On December 22, Hoang Thi Kieu Trinh and Doan Thi Lam Oanh will move to Thailand. The Vietnamese duo will join the Supreme Chonburi club in the Thai National Women's Volleyball Championship. The Volleybox database has updated information about both Vietnamese athletes in the squad of the Thai club.

Kieu Trinh and Lam Oanh will have 2 days to rest and practice before playing their first match with Supreme Chonburi-E.Tech. Their opponent is Nakornnont. The match will take place at 12:00 on December 24.

The Thailand Women's Volleyball Championship is considered the top tournament in the region, with 8 teams: Kaennakorn - Thailand National Sports University, Nakhon Ratchasima Huione QminC, Nakornnont, Supreme TIP Chonburi-E.Tech, Diamond Food Fine Chef - Air Force, Khon Kaen University-Khonkaen Star, EUREKA - Sisaket VC and RSU VC.

This is a good opportunity for Kieu Trinh and Lam Oanh to compete and develop their abilities. The two athletes of the Information Command had a successful year at the international level with the Vietnamese women's volleyball team.

They helped the Vietnamese team win the Asian Women's Club Championship, the 32nd SEA Games Gold Medal, and entered the top 4 strongest teams at the Asian Championship and the 19th ASIAD. Recently, the duo participated in the World Women's Club Championship - which gathered the 6 strongest teams in the world./.