Striker Rafaelson successfully naturalized; Thailand lost 1-9 at the Futsal World Cup

Striker Rafaelson officially has Vietnamese nationality

On the afternoon of September 20, Nam Dinh Club announced that striker Nguyen Xuan Son (Rafaelson Fernandes) had been granted Vietnamese citizenship.

“I am very happy today. My dream of becoming a Vietnamese citizen has come true. I love this country and will do my best on the football field,” Nguyen Xuan Son shared after being officially recognized as a Vietnamese citizen.

From today, Son is eligible to play as a Vietnamese player for Nam Dinh Club. He will start in the match against Quang Nam at Thien Truong Stadium, round 2 of V.League 2024/25 on September 21. In the first round, Xuan Son cannot play because he does not have Vietnamese nationality (Nam Dinh registered Son as a domestic player).

Xuan Son (Rafaelson) was born in 1997 in Brazil. He came to Vietnam and first played for Nam Dinh in 2020. At first, Son struggled because he had not adapted to the climate in Vietnam. After moving to Da Nang and Binh Dinh, the naturalized player exploded before returning to Nam Dinh and playing the main role in helping the team win the V.League championship.

In the 2023/24 season, Xuan Son will make history as the player who scored the most goals in a V.League season with 31 goals.

If called up by coach Kim Sang-sik, Xuan Son is eligible to play for the Vietnamese national team at the AFF Cup at the end of the year.

Vietnam Chess Team Promoted After Draw Against Norway

After losing to Iran in the 7th round, the Vietnam Men's Chess Team moved on to the 8th round to face the Norwegian Chess Team with the "locomotive" being the reigning world rapid chess champion and the reigning world blitz chess champion Magnus Carlsen (Elo 2832).

For Carlsen in the first game, it was Vietnam's number 1 player Le Quang Liem (Elo 2741). Although he had the upper hand in the early stages of the match. However, Quang Liem's ​​risky move to change the flag along with poor calculations in the middle and late stages of the game created an opportunity for Carlsen to turn the game around. After 45 moves, the Norwegian representative won the final match, helping the Norwegian Chess Team take a 1-0 lead.

However, the Norwegian team's lead did not last long. Right after Quang Liem lost to Carlsen, player Le Tuan Minh (Elo 2564) defeated opponent Aryan Tari (Elo 2642) to tie the score 1-1 for Vietnam.

In the remaining match, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (Elo 2633) and Tran Tuan Minh (Elo 2434) both had a draw against their opponents Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (Elo 2661) and Frode Urkedal (Elo 2546). Despite having the initiative and creating a big advantage, unfortunately, both Vietnamese players could not find a way to end the match and had to accept a draw, sharing points with Norway.

With the draw against Norway, after 8 rounds, the men's team won 5 matches, drew 2 matches and lost 1 match, rising two places from silver 9 to 7 on the rankings and leading the group of 13 teams with 12 points.

In the women's group, Vietnamese female players Vo Thi Kim Phung (Elo 2320), Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong (Elo 2214), Le Thanh Tu (Elo 2092) and Luong Phuong Hanh (Elo 2225) won against opponents Tan Li Ting (Elo 2037), Puteri Rifqah Fahada Azhar (Elo 1947), Sivanesan Nithyalakshmi (Elo 1912) and Munajjah Az-Zahraa Azhar (Elo 2014) of Malaysia with a score of 3.5-0.5.

With this result, the women's team won 6 matches, lost 2 matches, had 12 points and ranked 9th on the rankings, up 8 places compared to the previous round. In terms of total achievements, Vietnam is ranked 5th on the rankings after India, China, the US and Ukraine.

Thailand lost 1-9 at the futsal World Cup

On the evening of September 20, Thailand (ranked 26th in the world) and Brazil (ranked 1st) both secured tickets to the next round early, meeting each other in the match for the top spot in Group B.

With the world's number 1 position, Brazil soon showed its superiority, despite Thailand's efforts.

The Southeast Asian representative scored the only goal at the end of the first half, while Brazil scored 9 goals, including 6 goals in the second half.

With this result, Thailand (6 points/3 matches) accepted second place in Group B and will meet the second place team in Group F in the round of 16. Group F will be decided on September 22, after the match for the top spot between France and Iran.

The 2024 Futsal World Cup will take place in Uzbekistan from September 14 to October 6. Thailand is the sole representative of Southeast Asia at the tournament.

Through 10 times the Futsal World Cup finals were held, Thailand participated 7 times, achieving the best result of reaching the round of 16 (2012, 2016, 2021) and this 2024 season, it has at least participated in the round of 16.

Thailand's goal is to reach the quarterfinals for the first time, thereby surpassing Vietnam (who reached the round of 16 of the 2016 and 2021 futsal World Cup) to create a new milestone for Southeast Asian futsal.

However, this goal is not simple, when Thailand will face Iran (ranked 6th in the world) or France (ranked 10th), both above the "War Elephants" in the FIFA rankings.

FIFA referee reveals shocking information about superstar Messi

Former FIFA referee Carlos Chandia has revealed his decision to favour superstar Messi in the 2007 Copa America semi-final by not giving him a second yellow card in exchange for a shirt from that match.

Messi's yellow card came in the match against Mexico when the Argentine superstar handled the ball in the middle of the field. It is worth noting that if Messi receives a yellow card for this foul, he will be suspended for the final match against Brazil.

La Albiceleste won 3-0 in that year's semi-final, with Messi scoring a goal. It was only now that referee Carlos Chandia revealed that Messi may not have been on the field for the final, which Argentina lost 3-0 to Brazil on 15 July 2007 in Venezuela.

In the ESPN FShow program, former FIFA referee Carlos Chandia shared the shocking truth related to the event in the 2007 semi-final: "I clearly saw Messi lift the ball and touch it, but in the middle of the field. This situation did not create any scoring opportunity for the Mexican team.

So I said to Messi: “This is a yellow card, but it will cost you the chance to play in the final”, and I didn’t give him a yellow card. There were two and a half minutes left and the score was 3-0 to Argentina. Giving Messi a yellow card at that time would have definitely cost him the chance to play in the Copa America final.”

Notably, superstar Messi received a yellow card in the 51st minute, and if he received a second red card, he would have been suspended. The former referee also revealed that Messi kept his promise, adding: "Messi gave me his shirt in the dressing room afterwards. In fact, he wanted to take it off on the pitch and I told him: 'No, no, no, take it to the dressing room'. And he took it to the dressing room and left it for me."

Even though Argentina lost that final, Lionel Messi was awarded the Best Young Player of the tournament. He scored two goals and had an assist. Argentina did not win the Copa America that year or for many years after. In fact, they were somewhat unlucky in the tournaments, until they won the Copa America in 2021.

Alex Ferguson misses the glory at MU

Former legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that he misses football after 11 years away from the sport in an interview on the afternoon of September 20.

"I've been retired for 11 years and have adjusted to life. Sometimes I miss working at Man Utd. I miss the big games, the continental games. I've been to most of the Champions League finals because I find them familiar. These are big events that Man Utd should be involved in," Sir Alex Ferguson told BBC Sports.

Ferguson revealed that he is doing everything he can to maintain his memory as he turns 82. The former Scottish strategist has had health problems and has been hospitalized several times in recent years.

"Luckily, my memory is quite good, I hope it will always be like that. I read a lot, I do quizzes and I think that helps. I answer 100 questions online and if I don't get 70% it means my memory is having problems," said the former Man Utd icon.

Ferguson retired in 2013 after leading Man Utd to their 13th Premier League title in 27 years at Old Trafford. He helped the "Red Devils" win the legendary treble in 1999. At the age of 82, he still attends big MU matches and gives professional advice to his former club.

Since Ferguson retired, Man Utd has lost its dominant position in the Premier League. In 11 years, the red half of Manchester has appointed 7 head coaches but none of them have been able to bring success to the team like Ferguson did many years ago.

Current manager Erik ten Hag has won the League Cup and FA Cup in the last two seasons, but is under pressure from the new owners, who want the club to return to its glory days under Sir Alex Ferguson.