Goalkeeper Van Toan leaves the national team; Vietnam continues to drop in FIFA rankings

Van Toan suffered a minor shoulder injury when he started in place of Bui Tan Truong, who was injured in the 1-3 loss away to Oman on October 12. The Hai Phong goalkeeper then continued to play in 2 matches in the U23 Asian qualifiers. However, before the match against Japan in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, he was sent for an X-ray and discovered to have a small deformity in his shoulder, which prevented him from raising his arm to its full range. Coach Park Hang-seo therefore had tocall Quan Van Chuan to replacebefore the match with Japan.

Nguyen Van Toan practices with doctor Choi Ju-young in the Vietnam team.

Coach Park decided to let Van Toan leave the team today, November 12. This goalkeeper will go home to rest with his family and wait for the doctors to consult to see if he needs immediate surgery to treat the deformity. Hai Phong Club also supports the immediate surgery.

Along with Van Toan, coach Park Hang-seo also let Nham Manh Dung and Ho Thanh Minh leave the team. This duo was added after good performances in the U23 Asian qualifiers. However, they were not included in the registration list for the match against Japan on November 11.

Vietnam is at the bottom of Group B after five consecutive losses in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. The team will play its next match on November 16, hosting Saudi Arabia at My Dinh Stadium.

Vietnam team continues to drop in FIFA rankings

According to Football Ranking, Vietnam lost 6.1 points after the defeat to Japan. This caused coach Park Hang-seo and his team to drop one place to 99th in the world with 1,216.8 points. This is the lowest ranking of Vietnam since September 2019.

Vietnam lost its fifth match in the World Cup qualifiers. Photo: Viet Linh.

Xavi purifies Barca team

According to Sports, Xavi asked Barca's board of directors to fire the team's medical director Ramon Canal and was approved. Many fitness experts and analysts also left at Xavi's request.
Ramon Canal holds an important role at Barca. This character is said to be not playing the right role when the injury situation has increased at Barca in recent years. Stars like Ousmane Dembele are constantly injured and relapse.

Xavi radically reshuffles the personnel at Camp Nou. Photo: Reuters.

Canal's departure opens the way for Ramon Pruna to return. This is a fitness expert who worked with Barca when Xavi was a player and was targeted by the former midfielder for the position of head of fitness. Pruna is working in the UAE and will soon terminate his contract to return to Camp Nou.