Thailand vents anger on U23 Vietnam's defeated general; MU snatches Sesko, making Newcastle 'sniff'

Thailand vents anger on U23 Vietnam's defeated general

Thailand defeated U23 Philippines, winning third place in the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament.
After a bitter defeat against U23 Indonesia in the semi-finals, U23 Thailand somewhat overcame their disappointment when they defeated U23 Philippines with a score of 3-1 to win third place at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament.

Facing the team that lost 2-1 to U23 Vietnam in the semi-finals, U23 Thailand started the game somewhat passively and let the Philippines dominate in the first 15 minutes. However, when they regained control of the game, the team from the Land of the Golden Temple quickly showed their superiority.

In the 28th minute, after a seemingly harmless shot, Sittha made a mistake but accidentally turned into a favorable pass for Phanthamit to run in and touch the ball very delicately, scoring a goal against the Philippines, opening the score for U23 Thailand. In the 74th minute, after the first shot was blocked by goalkeeper Guimaraes, player Siraphop quickly rushed in to shoot the rebound to raise the score to 2-0 for Thailand.

Five minutes later, the Philippines rekindled hope. From a precise cross from his teammate, Banatao headed in with a dangerous header, narrowing the score to 1-2. With the equalizer, the spirit of U23 Philippines rose. They played with excitement, creating constant pressure and almost equalized if their header in the 86th minute had not hit the crossbar.

Immediately after that heart-stopping situation, U23 Thailand organized a lightning counterattack. Seksan, the player who had just entered the field, fired a powerful shot that hit the inside of the post and rolled into the net, sealing a 3-1 victory for Thailand.

This victory helped Thailand U23 win third place overall, ending the tournament with a relatively consolation result after the defeat to Indonesia. Meanwhile, Philippines U23 can hold their heads high with a hard-working performance in a rare appearance in the top 4 of the region.

Dang Van Lam surpassed Bui Tien Dung to win the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.

Goalkeeper Dang Van Lam received the title of Best Goalkeeper of the tournament, after winning the championship with Ninh Binh Club.

In this tournament, Dang Van Lam did not have outstanding statistics in terms of clean sheet. He only kept a clean sheet once, in the match where Ninh Binh won 2-0 against HAGL in the group stage. In total, Dang Van Lam conceded 4 goals in 4 matches, but was the player who started the most in the tournament, played the role of the leader of the defense and contributed significantly to Ninh Binh defeating HAGL 3-1 in the final match.

In particular, his stable performance and good command of the defense helped Dang Van Lam score points with the organizers. He demonstrated the class of a goalkeeper who has been the main goalkeeper for many years in the Vietnam national team.

Notably, goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung also had an impressive performance. He played 3 matches, kept 2 clean sheets and was voted the best goalkeeper of the match once. However, Da Nang finished the tournament in last place after a 1-2 defeat to the Korean student team. It was the collective achievement factor that prevented goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung from competing for the title with Dang Van Lam.

In the category of Best Player of the tournament, the award went to HAGL's central defender Jairo. This foreign player not only played solidly but also joined the attack many times and contributed to the journey to the final of the mountain town team.

Under the command of goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, Ninh Binh convincingly won the championship. The final match between Ninh Binh and HAGL was full of emotion. Although they were tied 1-1 after taking the lead, within just the last 2 minutes of the match, Ninh Binh scored two goals to finish off their opponents with a score of 3-1. This was the second time they defeated HAGL in the tournament, having previously won 2-0 in the group stage.

In the end, Ninh Binh Club won the championship. HAGL Club came in second. The Korean student team came in third, and Da Nang Club of goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung came in last.

Filipino player scores on debut for Barcelona first team

In a friendly match with Vissel Kobe, Filipino-born player Pedro Fernandez Sarmiento had an impressive debut, scoring for Barcelona just 10 minutes after entering the field.

The player of Filipino blood, Pedro Fernandez Sarmiento (17 years old), who grew up in La Masia, plays as a midfielder and has just made a strong impression when he was praised by the Spanish press as "the successor of the legend Andres Iniesta".

With Filipino blood, Sarmiento attracts special attention from Southeast Asia, especially in the context of the "naturalization wave" that is taking place vigorously.

On July 27, coach Flick gave Sarmiento the opportunity to replace Marcus Rashford in the 78th minute of a friendly match against Vissel Kobe (Japan). Just a few minutes later, this player scored the winning goal for Barcelona 3-1. Taking advantage of the ball from Lewandowski and Dani Olmo, Sarmiento calmly volleyed from outside the penalty area, defeating goalkeeper Shota Arai.

The cool goal not only showed the technique but also affirmed the bravery of the young Filipino talent in a pressured situation.

MU snatched Sesko, making Newcastle 'sniff'

MU are racing to sign Benjamin Sesko, with Newcastle having held initial talks with the Slovenian striker.

The RB Leipzig star, valued at £70 million, is on Newcastle's radar, so the two sides have already had initial negotiations. However, an exclusive source from Sky Sports Germany said that MU is also currently in contact with Sesko's representatives.

The decision about the future is in the hands of the 22-year-old striker, because he wants to leave to continue developing his career.

RB Leipzig insist they want £70m for the midfielder, after Arsenal pulled out to focus on Gyokeres.

Sesko joined Leipzig from RB Salzburg in 2023 and has played 87 games for the German side, including Champions League matches.

This summer, MU invested heavily in the attack, with two new recruits Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. Coach Amorim still wants to recruit another striker, because Hojlund has not met expectations.

Benjamin Sesko is the right solution, with potential and a good physical foundation, ready to take on the challenge of the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are looking for a replacement for striker Alexander Isak - the striker is expressing his desire to leave this summer.