Goalkeeper Van Lam honored by AFF Cup; Asian press praises Vietnam team's victory

Mbappe scored in the 90+5 minute to help PSG win 3 points

Early morning of December 29 (Hanoi time), home team PSG struggled to defeat Strasbourg, the club ranked second to last in the rankings, with a score of 2-1 in round 16 of Ligue 1.

In the second half of injury time, with the score at 1-1, Kylian Mbappe broke into the penalty area but could not score. The ball bounced right to Marquinhos. The Brazilian midfielder quickly finished the shot into the Strasbourg net.

After a strong reaction from the away team, the referee decided to consult VAR. Mr. Clement Turpin took away Marquinhos' goal, but awarded PSG a penalty, because Mbappe had been fouled in the previous situation.

Mbappe celebrates his 12th goal in Ligue 1 this season.

From 11m away, the French player coolly kicked the ball to seal a hard-fought victory in the 90+5 minute for the defending champions.

Mbappe started in PSG's first match after the 2022 World Cup. The French striker played energetically and had two chances to face the goalkeeper in the 25th and 41st minutes but missed both.

Over 90 minutes, Mbappe had a total of 5 shots, all on target. However, he had to wait until the second half's injury time to defeat goalkeeper Matz Sels.

The match at the Parc des Princes ended with a victory for PSG. Coach Christophe Galtier's team won their 8th consecutive match in all competitions, thereby solidifying their position at the top of Ligue 1 with 44 points, 8 points ahead of Lens but having played one more match.

Asian press praises Vietnam team's victory

The Vietnamese team has a "wide open door" to the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2022 after defeating Malaysia on December 27. Asian press highly appreciated the performance of coach Park Hang-seo and his team in the group stage.

After two big wins against Laos and Malaysia, Vietnam has taken the top spot in Group B with 6 points. Coach Park Hang-seo's team will travel to Singapore to face the host team in the third round of the 2022 AFF Cup group stage on December 30.

AFF Cup homepage voted Hoang Duc's goal as one of the best in round 2.

Witnessing the performance of the Vietnamese team, the Asian Football Confederation (The AFC) homepage wrote: "The Golden Dragon Warriors opened the door to the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2022 after convincingly defeating Malaysia right at home at My Dinh Stadium. The Vietnamese team is aiming to win the AFF Cup for the third time and also as a gift of gratitude to coach Park Hang-seo before he leaves the team in January 2023."

At the same time, the home pageAFF Cup 2022also affirmed that the Vietnamese team is the leading candidate for the "throne" of this tournament with a core force of high professional qualifications. The article on the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup page also voted Hoang Duc's goal in the top 3 best goals of round 2 of the AFF Cup 2022.

Meanwhile, the sports section of The Star (Malaysia) newspaper assessed that the home team was completely outclassed by the Vietnamese team in the match at My Dinh Stadium on the evening of December 27. The author of the article described that after a 0-3 defeat and losing the top spot in Group B in this year's tournament, the Malaysian team continued to extend their streak of 6 matches without knowing the taste of victory (5 defeats) against the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup arena.

The article stated: "Coach Kim Pan-gon's players were too inexperienced and hasty when competing with the Vietnamese team. The Malaysian defense collapsed after only 33 minutes of play, after Tien Linh headed the ball to open the scoring for the home team. The Malayan Tigers also failed to take advantage of their man advantage and conceded two more goals afterwards."

Japan team extends contract with coach Moriyasu

On the afternoon of December 28, the Japan Football Association (JFA) announced that it had reached an agreement to extend Moriyasu's contract. The 54-year-old strategist will continue to lead the "Blue Samurai" in the 2023 Asian Cup and aim for the 2026 World Cup.

This is the first time Japanese football has extended the contract of a national team head coach after a World Cup. Mr. Moriyasu signed a contract with the JFA right after the 2018 World Cup, replacing coach Akira Nishino. The former Thailand coach also led Japan to the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup but did not have his contract extended.

Japan's performance at the 2022 World Cup is considered more impressive than the tournament in Russia 4 years ago. In the round of 16, Japan stopped when they lost to the runner-up Croatia on penalties. Before that, they made history by becoming the first Asian team to beat both Germany and Spain in the group stage.

Hajime Moriyasu was almost sacked after Japan's disappointing results a year ago.

"I am honored to continue as head coach of the national team," said Moriyasu. "I also feel the great responsibility that comes with the job, knowing that the task will not be easy. But I am determined to face the challenge with the belief that 'nothing is impossible for Japan'."

JFA President Kozo Tashima admitted that coach Moriyasu failed to achieve his original goal of taking Japan to the World Cup quarterfinals. But Japanese football officials agree that Moriyasu is the most suitable person to continue leading the "Blue Samurai".

"Signing him (Moriyasu) again is the shortest way to achieve that (reaching the World Cup quarter-finals)," Mr. Tashima declared.

After good results at the 2022 World Cup, Japan returned to the number one position in Asia. The team from the land of the rising sun rose 4 places to 20th in the world. Coach Moriyasu's next major tournament with Japan will be the 2023 Asian Cup, scheduled to be held in Qatar in the middle of next year.

Goalkeeper Van Lam honored by AFF Cup

A great performance helped goalkeeper Dang Van Lam be voted "Best Player" by the AFF Cup 2022 Organizing Committee in the match between Vietnam and Malaysia.

The Vietnamese team won 3-0 against Malaysia at My Dinh Stadium, Group B of the 2022 AFF Cup. In which, Dang Van Lam continued to be the main goalkeeper and had his second consecutive clean sheet. This was a match in which the Vietnamese-American goalkeeper completed his task excellently.

Especially after the Vietnamese team lost a player due to Nguyen Van Toan's red card in the 32nd minute, Van Lam had a series of excellent saves.

As soon as Van Toan was sent off, Malaysia launched a dangerous attack to equalize. However, the visitors' chances were blocked by goalkeeper Dang Van Lam. In the 41st minute, Dang Van Lam flew to block a shot from a Malaysian player. Four minutes later, he continued to win the face-off.

Goalkeeper Van Lam was honored as "Best Player" of the AFF Cup in the match between Vietnam and Malaysia. Photo: Ngoi Sao

Van Lam's brilliance helped Vietnam keep a clean sheet after the first half. In the second half, goals from Que Ngoc Hai and Nguyen Hoang Duc brought a 3-0 victory and the top spot for the "Golden Star Warriors".

At the end of the match, goalkeeper Dang Van Lam was voted the best player of the match by the Organizing Committee. This is a worthy reward for the stable performance of the goalkeeper with Vietnamese - Russian blood. In 2018, Dang Van Lam was also one of the key factors in bringing the AFF Cup Championship to the Vietnam National Team.

Another player of the Vietnamese team who was also honored by AFF is Nguyen Hoang Duc. The midfielder of Viettel Club is very active and was chosen as the Most Active Player for the second consecutive time.

In addition to the goal that sealed the 3-0 victory, Hoang Duc also created many opportunities for his teammates. After 2 matches, he had 5 passes that opened up finishing opportunities for the Vietnamese team.

On the morning of December 28, the Vietnamese team traveled to Singapore to prepare for the next match in the group stage of the AFF Cup 2022.

Losing to Vietnam, Malaysian Football Association plans to complain about the referee to AFF

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) plans to file a complaint with the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) about referee Sato Ryuji.

Berita Harian reported that the Malaysian Football Association has assigned the referees' council to analyze the decisions made by Sato Ryuji in the match on the evening of December 27 at My Dinh Stadium. The Malaysian team lost to the host Vietnam with a score of 0-3, with the turning point of the match being the red card given to Malaysian player Azam Azmi in the second half.

"The referees' panel will give its concluding report as soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow before we submit our complaint to the AFF on Friday," FAM Secretary General Noor Azman Rahman told Berita Harian.

Referee Sato Ryuji blew the controversial penalty.

In another article, the newspaper stated that it would be difficult for FAM to change the outcome of the match between Vietnam and Malaysia. The complaint was probably just an expression of the agency's opposition.

Controversial situation in the match betweenDVietnam teamand Malaysia took place in the 59th minute. Van Hau accelerated in the penalty area and collided with Azam Azmi. After consulting the linesman, referee Sato Ryuji awarded the Vietnam team a penalty because he judged that Azmi had fouled Van Hau while the ball was still in play.

Former FIFA referee Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh of Malaysia disagreed with this decision. He said that before Azam Azmi committed the foul that led to Van Hau's red card, the Vietnamese player had committed the foul first.

"In my opinion, the first information the referee needs to be provided with is the Vietnamese player's fault, then the Malaysian player's reaction. I'm not sure about that because the video is not clear.

If there was retaliation, the Malaysian player should have been given a red card. However, the match had to restart with a free kick for Malaysia because the Vietnamese player committed a foul. Perhaps the referee overlooked the foul committed by the Vietnamese player," added Mr. Mohd Salleh.