Tuan Anh brings good news; Indonesia calls up naturalized defender to play for Vietnam national team
(Baonghean.vn) - MRI scan results show that Nguyen Tuan Anh's injury is not as serious as initially diagnosed; Coach Simon McMenemy has decided to call up Brazilian defender Otavio Dutra to prepare for the match against Vietnam on October 15.
Coach Park Hang-seo will evaluate Tuan Anh's recovery process before deciding whether to use him or not for the match against Indonesia on October 15 in the third round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia.
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| Tuan Anh played one round in the win against Malaysia. |
Tuan Anh was in the starting lineup when Vietnam beat Malaysia 1-0 at My Dinh on October 10. The midfielder from Thai Binh played energetically, with many technical moves to help his team gain the upper hand in the first half. However, he had to leave the field later due to injury, giving way to Duc Huy.
Due to having to travel urgently to Indonesia, Tuan Anh did not have time to go to the hospital to check his injury in Vietnam. Yesterday afternoon, the Vietnamese team had their first practice session. Besides Tuan Anh, captain Que Ngoc Hai also had to practice separately due to muscle strain.
Indonesia calls naturalized defender
On September 27, defender Otavio Dutra officially completed the final procedures to become an Indonesian citizen. The Brazilian-born player was called up in September to prepare for the two matches against Malaysia and Thailand, but he could not play because he had not completed the necessary procedures.
The player has now been granted an Indonesian passport and can play for the Indonesian team at any time. On September 12, he was called up by coach Simon McMenemy and joined his teammates in the Indonesian team.
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| Otavio Dutra has completed the procedures to wear the Indonesian shirt. Photo: Bola |
Bola Sport website commented that Dutra's presence will significantly increase Indonesia's defensive ability, in the context that this team has conceded 11 goals after 3 matches.
Dutra was born in 1983 and is currently playing for Persebaya Surabaya. Indo Sport website assessed that Dutra is very suitable for coach McMenemy's 3-center-back formation thanks to his ideal height (1.88 m) and ability to compete in the air.The English coach also confirmed that he always wanted to use this Brazilian-born defender. "I know Dutra has become an Indonesian citizen. Now I just have to wait for his passport," he shared in early October.
Sergio Ramos makes history in Spanish football
By starting the match against Norway in Group F of the Euro 2020 qualifiers in the early morning of October 13, Ramos officially surpassed his former teammate Iker Casillas (167 matches) to become the player with the most appearances for the Spanish national team with 168 matches.
Ramos made his debut for Spain in March 2005 in a 3-0 win over China. Since then, Ramos has not missed any major tournament for Spain.
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| Ramos failed to win his historic match. Photo: Getty |
He started in every campaign from World Cup 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and Euro 2008, 2012, 2016. Ramos and the Spanish national team won 2 Euro championships, 1 World Cup.
In his 168th appearance, Ramos and Spain led the home team Norway until the 4th minute of injury time before Ramos himself was involved in the tackle that caused the referee to award the home team a penalty.Joshua King made no mistake from the penalty spot to equalize for the home team. This draw ended Spain's winning streak in the Euro 2020 qualifying round in Europe.
After 7 matches, Spain has 19 points, 4 points more than second-placed Sweden, 5 points more than third-placed Romania and has yet to qualify for Euro 2020.
