Czech-Vietnamese midfielder brings good news to U23 Vietnam; Determines 4 teams to enter Asian Cup semi-finals

Czech-Vietnamese midfielder brings good news to U23 Vietnam

Andrej Nguyen An Khanh is one of the notable overseas Vietnamese players playing football in Europe. Andrej Nguyen An Khanh was born in the Czech Republic, with both his parents being Vietnamese. This player is currently on the payroll of Sigma Olomouc.

Recently, the midfielder born in 2005 was called up to U23 Vietnam twice by Coach Troussier. The first time was in June 2023, An Khanh had 10 days of training with U23 Vietnam. Notably, during the 10 days of training with U23 and Vietnam National Team, An Khanh was also given the opportunity by Coach Troussier to play for 30 minutes when the team played a friendly match with Hai Phong.

Three months later, the Czech-Vietnamese midfielder was again called up to the Vietnam U23 squad to prepare for the U23 Asian qualifiers. Although not on the final list for the tournament in Phu Tho, An Khanh is still considered a promising name for Vietnamese football in the future.

After returning to the Czech Republic, An Khanh regularly participated in the official matches of U19 Sigma Olomouc. The midfielder born in 2005 continuously left his mark with impressive performances. Most recently, An Khanh scored in the 4-3 victory of U19 Sigma Olomouc. The U23 Vietnam player was the author of the opening goal in the 4th minute of the match.

A few days earlier, Andrej Nguyen An Khanh also scored in a 2-2 draw against MSK Zilina. This is a positive signal from the young overseas Vietnamese star before the time when U23 Vietnam prepares to participate in the U23 Asian Cup.

If he continues to play impressively and perform well for U19 Sigma Olomouc, An Khanh will likely be given another opportunity by coach Troussier in the near future.

Vietnam tennis team lost to South Africa in Davis Cup play-off group II

Vietnam's No. 1 tennis player Ly Hoang Nam won both singles matches brilliantly, but the Vietnamese tennis team still lost to South Africa in the Davis Cup Group II play-offs ending tonight in Bac Ninh.

After the first day of a 1-1 draw, today the Vietnamese tennis team and the South African team entered the decisive match day to determine the ticket to play in the Davis Cup Group II world.

Given the importance of the doubles match, the coaching staff and members of the Vietnamese tennis team trusted Ly Hoang Nam to play with Nguyen Van Phuong against Philip Henning/Christiaan Worst. The two home players played very well in the first set, winning 6/4, but let their opponents tie the score 1-1 when they won 6/1 in the second set. Hoang Nam and Van Phuong's efforts in the third set were ineffective as they lost to Philip Henning/Christiaan Worst 4/6.

The victory over the Vietnamese team in the doubles match helped the South African team take a 2-1 lead. Immediately after that, Ly Hoang Nam entered the singles match against the world's 416th ranked player Kris Van Wyk. Although his physical strength had decreased after the doubles match, Hoang Nam still showed his mettle when he defeated his opponent with a score of 2-1 (6/4, 3/6, 6/3). This impressive victory by Ly Hoang Nam helped the Vietnamese tennis team equalize the score 2-2 against the South African team and bring the play-off match into the deciding singles match.

In this decisive singles match, Trinh Linh Giang represented the host Vietnam to compete with tennis player Philip Henning. Linh Giang could not surprise his opponent when he lost quickly 0-2 (2/6, 2/6) and together with the Vietnamese tennis team, sadly watched the South African team celebrate the final victory and a ticket to play in Davis Cup Group II.

Determine 4 teams in the Asian Cup semi-finals

On the morning of February 4, host Qatar defeated Uzbekistan to win the last ticket to the semi-finals of the 2023 Asian Cup.

Qatar and Uzbekistan drew 1-1 after 120 minutes in the final quarter-final match of the 2023 Asian Cup. And both had to decide the winner on penalties.

The home team Qatar opened the scoring thanks to an own goal by goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov (Uzbekistan). After conceding the goal, Uzbekistan pressed forward to find an equalizer. In the 50th minute, Odiljon Hamrobekov scored the equalizer 1-1 for Uzbekistan.

This score remained the same until the end of the match as well as 30 minutes of extra time and the two teams had to take each other to a penalty shootout to determine the winner.

On the 11m penalty shootout, Qatar won 3-2 and won the last ticket to the semi-finals.

Thus, the 2023 Asian Cup has determined the 4 teams entering the semi-finals: Jordan, South Korea, Qatar and Iran. Of which, Jordan is a brand new name in the Asian Cup semi-finals.

The remaining three teams, South Korea, Qatar and Iran, have all won the tournament.

In the semi-finals, Jordan will face South Korea (February 6) while Iran will face host Qatar (February 7). The clash with Jordan is a good opportunity for South Korea to win a ticket to the final. Jordan clearly cannot sit at the same table with South Korea even though they caused a surprise at the 2023 Asian Cup this time.

Meanwhile, Iran and Qatar will be a fierce semi-final match of the Asian Cup 2023. Both teams are candidates for the championship of the tournament. Qatar is the defending champion and they are playing extremely well in the Asian Cup 2023.

On Iran's side, the West Asian football representative affirmed its strength when it eliminated the number 1 candidate for the 2023 Asian Cup championship, Japan, in the quarterfinals.

Ivory Coast surprises everyone again at CAN 2024

For the second consecutive time, the Ivory Coast team scored a goal in the final minutes of the match. Notably, that goal was decisive and turned the situation around. After Senegal, it was Mali's turn to fall bitterly to the Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals of CAN 2024.

In the quarter-final match of CAN 2024 on the morning of February 4, Ivory Coast suffered a personnel disadvantage when they had to play with only 10 men from the 43rd minute when defender Odilon Kossounou received a second yellow card. In a situation of losing a man, Ivory Coast only controlled the ball 36% in the second half.

However, the home team of CAN 2024 still had 5 shots on goal. Notably, one of them was converted into a goal.

In the 90th minute, Simon Adingra seized the opportunity very quickly after a flurry of balls in Mali's penalty area to equalize 1-1 for Ivory Coast. Before that, this player had stirred up the opponent's defense with a very annoying dribble. To be more precise, he "danced" in front of a large number of Mali players.

Adingra's goal forced the match into extra time. In the 120+2 minute, Oumar Diakite sent the Stade de la Paix into an emotional frenzy with a goal that put Ivory Coast 2-1 up.

After scoring, Diakite was also sent off for receiving a second yellow card. The referee deemed the player guilty of misconduct, behaving inappropriately. However, that was no longer important as Ivory Coast produced a spectacular comeback to defeat Mali.

In the semi-finals, the Ivory Coast team will face the Republic of Congo. It is very surprising that the host team can go far in CAN 2024. In the group stage, Ivory Coast played poorly and could only get a ticket to the next round thanks to the spot given to one of the four third-placed teams with the best results.

Leverkusen set incredible record

On the evening of February 3, Bayer Leverkusen won 2-0 at Darmstadt's Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor in round 20 of the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen's goals were scored by Nethan Tella in each half. With this victory, coach Xabi Alonso's team set a new record for the longest unbeaten streak in the club's history. To date, Leverkusen has gone 29 consecutive matches without defeat in all competitions.

In the past 29 matches, Leverkusen has 25 wins and 4 draws. They have scored 87 goals and conceded 20. In the 2023/24 Bundesliga standings, Leverkusen currently has 52 points, 2 points more than Bayern Munich, who are chasing behind.

In the next round on February 11, Leverkusen will host Bayern Munich at the Bay Arena. This is considered the "final" of the season. Four days before, Xabi Alonso and his team have a match in the German Cup against Stuttgart.