What did Singaporean media write about Nguyen Xuan Son?; Challenges awaiting the Vietnamese team at Jalan Besar Stadium

Witnessing Nguyen Xuan Son's performance, Singaporean press expressed concern for their team in the upcoming match against the Vietnamese team. PageStraits Timesheadline: "Vietnam's naturalized striker is a big threat to Singapore in the semi-finals.

The article describes: "Rafaelson, also known as Nguyen Xuan Son, after being naturalized as a Vietnamese citizen, had an impressive debut in the national team jersey. In the big win over Myanmar on December 21, Son performed a charming "samba dance" and scored two goals and two assists, helping the Vietnamese team top Group B, entering the ASEAN Cup semi-finals to face Singapore."

Challenges awaiting the Vietnamese team at Jalan Besar Stadium

Coincidentally, due to a music event, the Singapore team cannot play at the national stadium and will choose Jalan Besar as their home stadium. The number of spectators at Jalan Besar is only 1/10 of the national stadium, but this place is giving a huge advantage to the home team.

The grass surface of Jalan Besar Stadium is much different from that of Singapore National Stadium. Specifically, while Singapore National Stadium uses hybrid grass (a combination of artificial grass and natural grass), Jalan Besar Stadium is 100% artificial grass, similar to Rizal Memorial Stadium where the Vietnamese team competed with the Philippines team in the group stage..

Jalan Besar Stadium is actually not unfamiliar to many Vietnamese players as they have met the home team in the AFF Cup 2022, a match in which coach Park Hang-seo at that time left many key players to calculate the long-term and ended in a 0-0 draw. The current number 1 striker of the Vietnamese team, Xuan Son, also has a good memory right at Jalan Besar Stadium when he was the author of the opening goal in the 3-3 draw between Nam Dinh and Tanpines Rover in the recent AFC Champions League Two 2024-2025.

Mbappe reveals the reason for his revival

After joining Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, Kylian Mbappe had a difficult start due to injuries and some unhappy moments, typically missing two consecutive penalties.

But the persistence of coach Carlo Ancelotti has helped Mbappe come back strongly. On the night of December 22, the French striker scored and assisted as Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-2 in the final match of 2024, moving them to second place in La Liga.

Mbappe said happily: “Now we understand each other better. My arrival has changed a lot of things in the team. I feel very good and you can see that on the pitch.”

“I can do more. I know I am capable of playing at a higher level. The important thing is that I have improved in the last few games. The penalty miss and the defeat against Bilbao made me determined to come back. From that moment, I realised I had to give my all and show my character in every game.”

Senegalese star in top 10 highest-paid players in the world

With $52 million, Sadio Mane ranked 9th in the list of the world's highest-paid football players in 2024 published by Forbes.

MagazineForbeshas just announced the list of 10 highest-paid football players in the world in 2024. Notably, Senegalese striker Sadio Mane ranked 9th in this ranking.

At the age of 32, Mane is playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League with a salary of 48 million USD and about 4 million USD from off-field activities such as advertising and sponsorship contracts.

Sadio Mane, born in 1992, is considered one of the best players in the world in his generation and one of the greatest African players of all time. Sadio Mane is considered a complete player in the striker position, and he is especially dangerous when deployed on the left wing. Mane can shoot with both his left and right foot, or compete for high balls in the opponent's penalty area to score, although his height is quite modest compared to the opponent's defenders.