Brazilian striker impresses with first goal in V.League 2025-2026; Liverpool wins dramatic opening match of Premier League

Brazilian striker impresses with first goal in V.League 2025-2026

The Cong Viettel's new player jumped high and made a tricky header to defeat goalkeeper Nguyen Filip on the evening of August 15, becoming the first player to score in V.League 2025-2026.

In just 3 minutes, Brazilian striker Lucao silenced Hang Day Stadium when he created a "super product" against Hanoi Police, causing the home team to struggle to regain 1 point on the opening day of V.League 2025-2026.

Lucao do Break is no stranger to the V.League, having played for three major clubs in the tournament since 2022, including Hanoi FC, Da Nang and Hai Phong. The 1.84m-tall 34-year-old striker not only has a diverse and dangerous shot, but is also "tough" in competitive situations and supports defense.

Before playing for The Cong Viettel Club, Lucao was Hai Phong's leading striker, winning the title of "Top scorer" of V.League 2024-2025 with 14 goals, equal to the achievement of striker Alan (Hanoi Police Club).

Lucao's stable performance and top scoring efficiency quickly attracted the attention of the "soldier shirt" team's leadership from the end of the second leg of last season. Therefore, before the V.League 2025-2026, The Cong Viettel did not hesitate to spend money to have the service of this striker born in 1991.

Despite his age, Coach Popov and his teammates still expect Lucao to help Viettel's The Cong attack improve. With a tricky header, he showed his class, experience and excellent "goal-scoring" ability.

Although he has not been able to help the new team win their first match, if he continues to maintain his impressive form, Lucao promises to be the key spearhead for The Cong Viettel's ambition to compete for the championship in domestic tournaments this season.

Le Quang Liem defeated World Chess King Gukesh Dommaraju

Vietnam's No. 1 chess player Le Quang Liem (ELO 2729) made a big impression when he defeated World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (ELO 2776) in game 7 of the blitz chess event at the Saint Louis Grand Chess Tour 2025 on August 14 (US time). The match lasted 57 moves, Quang Liem took advantage of his 3-move advantage to force the youngest world champion in history to accept defeat. This was the first time Quang Liem had beaten Gukesh, and was also a milestone affirming his progress since winning the 2013 World Blitz Chess Championship.

Before that, Quang Liem had an impressive start with three consecutive wins against Leinier Dominguez, Fabiano Caruana and Sam Shankland. He then drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Grigoriy Oparin and Levon Aronian, then beat Gukesh in the seventh game. In the last two games, he lost to Wesley So and drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

At the end of the first day of the blitz chess event, Quang Liem gained 6 more points, bringing his total to 13 points in both events, temporarily ranking 6th. With stable performance and a historic victory over Gukesh, Quang Liem is on track to improve his ranking on the final day of competition on August 15, aiming for the top 4 to qualify for the Finals.

The Saint Louis Grand Chess Tour 2025 takes place from August 11-15 with a combination of rapid and blitz chess, bringing together the world's top 10 players. 6 players participate in the entire tour: Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Leinier Dominguez, Le Quang Liem. 4 wildcards belong to Grigoriy Oparin, Sam Shankland, Wesley So and the reigning Chess King Gukesh Dommaraju. The tournament has a total prize fund of 175,000 USD, the champion receives 40,000 USD.

Players will play 9 rapid games (25 minutes + 10 seconds) over the first 3 days, with a win worth 2 points, a draw worth 1 point, and a loss worth 0 points; followed by 18 blitz games (double round-robin) to determine the rankings. This is the fourth event in the Grand Chess Tour 2025 and will determine the top 4 players for the Finals.

Vietnam U21 women's volleyball team lost the qualifying match 17-20

The Vietnam U21 women's volleyball team lost 1-3 to Chile U21 in the 17th-20th place match of the 2025 U21 Volleyball World Cup.

Entering the match with confidence after a 3-1 victory over U21 Egypt, coach Nguyen Trong Linh's players set a goal of defeating Chile to move closer to 17th place overall. However, things did not go as expected. In the first set, U21 Vietnam had difficulty against the opponent's strong flank attack and suffered a 17-25 defeat.

In set 2, the team continued to make many mistakes in passing the first set and lacked coordination, allowing U21 Chile to maintain their dominance. As a result, coach Nguyen Trong Linh and his team lost 15-25, putting them at a huge disadvantage.

Refusing to accept being swept away, U21 Vietnam fought back in set 3 with a courageous spirit. The quick attacks of the white-shirted players helped the home team win 25-17, narrowing the score to 1-2.

However, the young girls' efforts were not enough to create a comeback. Set 4 witnessed a tense match, but U21 Chile was more courageous at the decisive moments and ended the match with a 25-20 victory.

In the end, the Vietnam U21 women's volleyball team lost to their opponent with a score of 1-3.

Liverpool win dramatic Premier League opening match

In the opening match of the 2025/26 Premier League at Anfield, Liverpool had to struggle to defeat Bournemouth 4-2, in which rookie Ekitike shone with 1 goal and 1 assist.

After the opening whistle, the match was full of excitement. In the 4th minute, Salah cut in from the right wing into the penalty area, then shot powerfully into the far corner but goalkeeper Petrovic saved for Bournemouth. A move that was very much in the style of the Egyptian star but unfortunately could not be converted into a goal.

In the next phase, Bournemouth actually played better with fast and deadly attacks. Meanwhile, Liverpool seemed out of sync, even having a lot of difficulty penetrating the visitors' tight defense. The defending champions' creative strikers like Wirtz and Salah were completely "turned off" by Bournemouth's physical and fearless style of play.

With the score at a standstill, Liverpool unexpectedly found the opening goal, and it came from Ekitike's brilliance. Receiving a pass from Mac Allister, the Frankfurt signing managed to get past Senesi, before finishing coolly into the box to break the tie.

By the end of the first half, Liverpool had a great counter-attack to double the gap, but Salah made poor decisions. Overall, the first half was a forgettable match for Salah and Wirtz, with many situations that were relatively bad, lacking a serious sense of the ball.

In the second half, Liverpool accelerated and in the 49th minute, The Reds found a goal to double the gap after Gakpo's precise tap-in in the penalty area. The creator was none other than Ekitike - the author of the opening goal.

In the 64th minute, Bournemouth's chance to score was rekindled when striker Semenyo cut in to score to shorten the gap. Disaster struck Liverpool in the 76th minute when Semenyo himself scored a spectacular solo goal from his own half to equalize 2-2.

In such a context, coach Arne Slot decided to send Chiesa on the field in the 82nd minute to replace Wirtz, and that choice proved to be wise. Just 6 minutes after appearing on the field, the Italian international scored a valuable goal with a quick opportunity in the penalty area.

Victory was assured for Liverpool in the 90+4 minute, when Salah made his mark with a tricky right-footed strike. In the end, The Reds beat Bournemouth 4-2 at Anfield on the opening day of the Premier League to pocket their first three points.

Premier League spending surpasses £2bn mark

Premier League clubs show their financial strength by spending heavily to bring in expensive contracts.

Liverpool have been the biggest spenders so far, spending more than £250m on a host of new signings, including Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong. Two of these (Wirtz and Ekitike) are in the top five most expensive Premier League signings this summer.

Liverpool have also just reached an agreement to sign potential centre-back Giovanni Leoni from Parma for more than £30 million.

Behind Liverpool is MU. After an unsuccessful 2024/25 season, the "Red Devils" invested nearly 200 million pounds in 3 new strikers: Matheus Cunha (62.5 million pounds), Benjamin Sesko (73 million pounds) and Bryan Mbeumo (71 million pounds), helping coach Ruben Amorim have a dynamic attack.

MU is also targeting Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba, a player valued at no less than 100 million pounds.

Chelsea also showed their determination to improve their squad by bringing in two strikers Liam Delap (£30m) and Joao Pedro (£60m), along with wingers Jamie Gittens (£48.5m) and Estevao (£29m). "The Blues" continue to demonstrate their strategy of targeting promising young players.

Arsenal have finally secured the striker they have been chasing for a long time in Viktor Gyokeres (£63.5m). The Gunners have also bolstered their midfield with the signing of midfielder Martin Zubimendi (£55m) from Real Sociedad.

Manchester City and Tottenham ranked 5th and 6th respectively, having spent £153 million and £127 million in this summer transfer window.