Shock: Duy Manh receives another heavy penalty; Mourinho returns to La Liga?

Duy Manh unexpectedly received a heavy penalty at the 2019 Asian Cup

In the opening match of the 2019 Asian Cup against Iraq, Duy Manh received a yellow card in the 48th minute after fouling his opponent. For pulling his opponent's shirt, the player born in 1996 must pay a fine of up to 5,000 USD for violating clause 4.1.2 in article 22 of the 2019 Asian Cup rules. The Hanoi FC midfielder will have 30 days to appeal the above penalty.

Notably, the Vietnamese players who received yellow cards, Doan Van Hau and Trong Hoang, will not receive any further punishment from the AFC. In addition, Duy Manh will be suspended for the match against Yemen because he received two yellow cards.

Thailand passes Asian Cup group stage for first time in nearly 50 years

A draw against hosts UAE saw Thailand advance to the group stage of the Asian Cup for the first time in nearly 50 years. The last time the War Elephants achieved this feat was in 1972, when they finished third overall.

Thailand looked set to finish third in the group stage, but Bahrain's surprise goal in the same match against India propelled interim coach Sirisak Yodyardthai's side into second place. Bahrain, meanwhile, have also secured their place in the top two of the third-placed group. Bahrain have four points, with only Syria able to catch them in the third-placed group.

The 1-1 draw kept UAE at the top of Group A, while Thailand also finished just behind. In the round of 16, UAE could face Vietnam when their opponent is the third-placed team in Group C, D or E.

Vietnam's chances of entering the round of 16 decreased after the last round of Group A.

By finishing third in Group A and gaining 4 points after 3 matches, Bahrain became the first third team to qualify. Vietnam's chances of reaching the round of 16 were also reduced.

In Group C, the Philippines (0 points, goal difference -4) is temporarily at the bottom but is completely capable of climbing to third place if they defeat Kyrgyzstan (0 points, -2) in the final match on January 16.

Right after the Philippines - Kyrgyzstan match, in Group D, Vietnam (0 points, -3) also entered the match for third place with Yemen (0 points, -2). If they win, Coach Park Hang Seo and his team will have 3 points and a goal difference of at least -2, giving them a good chance of competing for the third-placed teams.

In Group E, Lebanon (0 points, goal difference -4) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (0 points, goal difference -10) will meet in the final match. In Group F, Oman (0 points, -2) and Turkmenistan (0 points, -5) will also meet and can only get a maximum of 3 points.

Thus, there will be a maximum of 4 third-place teams with a maximum score of 3 points, then the teams will have to compare on goal difference.

In the remaining group, group B, Syria (to meet Australia) and Palestine (to meet Jordan) are currently tied at 1 point. If these two teams do not win in the final round, the third-placed team in this group will only have a maximum of 2 points.

At that time, Vietnam and the Philippines only need to be better than the third-place team in Group E or F (in terms of points or goal difference) to be sure to advance. Of course, on the condition that the two Southeast Asian representatives must win the final match. And the bigger the difference in score, the more open the door to the next round.

Indian national team coach resigns

Coach Stephen Constantine resigned after the loss to Bahrain eliminated the Indian team from the 2019 Asian Cup.

After a dream start with a 4-1 win over Thailand, India lost two consecutive matches against the hosts UAE and Bahrain, causing the South Asian team to be eliminated in the group stage. Minutes after losing 0-1 to Bahrain in the final match of Group A, coach Stephen Constantine announced his resignation.

Coach Stephen Constantine took charge of the Indian national team in 2015, and he made a great contribution to helping the South Asian team qualify for the Asian Cup finals after an 8-year absence. This is the 56-year-old's second stint in charge of the Indian national team, having previously led the team from 2002 to 2005.

MU spends big to get Premier League star

The Mirror reported that Wolves' Ruben Neves has been targeted by both MU and Man City after impressing in the Premier League, showing that he is one of the top young players in Europe.

Manchester City are rumoured to be ready to bring Ruben Neves, who has a transfer fee of £100 million, to the Etihad Stadium. However, Pep Guardiola has recently made it clear that the Premier League champions will not spend such a large sum to sign Ruben Neves.

"A month ago, I started reading, Ruben Neves £100m. That won't happen, Man City won't spend £100m on a defensive midfielder," Pep affirmed,

According to the above source, this is good news for MU, the team that has been pursuing the 21-year-old Portuguese star very closely recently.

Revealing 3 players who are "difficult to survive" at MU

Commentator and MU legend Gary Neville commented that the three players who do not have a solid position at Old Trafford under Solskjaer are Lukaku, Fellaini and Mata. According to Neville, these three players "have a hard time surviving" at MU because they do not have the necessary speed for the Red Devils' counter-attacking and attacking style of play.

Mourinho invited by La Liga president

Not long ago, after being fired by Man United, when asked about the prospect of returning to lead Real Madrid, Mourinho admitted: "It would be a great honor". Even if Los Blancos decided to give Santiago Solari a long-term contract, there would still be many opportunities for Mourinho.

"He is a good coach and I think it would not be bad for La Liga at all," president Javier Tebas said when asked if Mourinho should return to Spain. "From a professional point of view, I think it would be good, although I don't know which team he would go to."

"When a world star comes back, it always helps. But when they leave, it doesn't affect us too much. We, La Liga, work with the idea that there are no stars. All players are the same and they are all welcome here."

"However, we also want the league to have a strong brand like the Premier League, when they promoted excellently for 20 years without any player winning the Ballon d'Or."

4th coach loses job in Premier League

In a statement on their website, Huddersfield FC said they had reached an agreement to terminate the contract with coach David Wagner after a series of poor performances since the start of the season. David Wagner has led Huddersfield since November 2015, leading the team to promotion to the Premier League in the 2016-17 season.

Last season, Huddersfield were in the relegation zone but Wanger worked hard to lead the team to a 16th-place finish. This season, the Huddersfield board have lost patience with Wagner as the team has only 11 points after 22 rounds and is bottom of the Premier League table. According to chairman Dean Hoyle, assistant Mark Hudson will replace Wagner to lead Huddersfield in the match against Man City this weekend.

PSG beats Barca to sign “new Busquets”?

According to AS, not Barca but PSG is the next destination for young talent Frenkie De Jong (Ajax). According to AS sources, De Jong and PSG have basically agreed on personal terms. Specifically, the player dubbed the "new Busquets" will sign a 5-year contract with the Ligue 1 defending champion and receive a salary of about 7 million pounds/season (after tax).

Real spends big to buy striker

According to Don Balon, Genoa striker Piatek could be a Real player in January. Also according to Don Balon's source, Real President Florentino Perez has agreed to pay the £54 million that Genoa requested to quickly close the deal in the context that Benzema is currently unable to play due to injury.

Bayern Munich asked to borrow Morata

According to Mirror, Bayern are the latest team to show interest in Chelsea striker Morata. However, it is likely that the Allianz Stadium team will ask for a loan deal rather than a permanent deal. Chelsea are said to be demanding a loan fee of around £3 million.