Vietnam team and the problem of not having Quang Hai and Hoang Duc in AFF Cup; Man Utd wins FA Cup

Vietnam team and the problem of not having Quang Hai and Hoang Duc in AFF Cup

If nothing changes, it is very likely that both Hoang Duc and Quang Hai will have difficulty joining the Vietnamese team to participate in the AFF Cup 2024 taking place at the end of this year.

The reason this happened is because Quang Hai and his teammate Hoang Duc will not renew their contracts with their home clubs Hanoi Police and Viettel and will leave V-League to play football abroad.

Although the destination is not yet clear, whether it is Japan, Thailand as rumored or another tournament, it is highly likely that the most promising midfielder duo of V-League will not wear the Vietnamese national team jersey when the AFF Cup takes place because the biggest playground in the region is not part of the FIFA system to force clubs to release players.

Even before entering the national championship, like Quang Hai's case with rumors of going to Japan (J-League starts in February and ends in December), it is difficult for this midfielder to return to wear the Vietnamese national team shirt, because he needs to join the club like Cong Phuong before.

Even if the new club allows it, it won't be easy for Quang Hai or Hoang Duc to play at 100% capacity at the AFF Cup to minimize the risk of their trip abroad.

Whether Quang Hai and Hoang Duc are in coach Kim Sang Sik's plan or not, we have to wait for the list of Vietnam team to be announced after round 21 of V-League.

However, it is very difficult for the new captain of the Vietnamese team to eliminate these two midfielders because of the class of both, despite their current form being unstable.

Because of such importance, at the same time facing the absence of the aforementioned midfielder duo at the AFF Cup 2024, coach Kim Sang Sik must make calculations right now if he does not want to be passive later.

It is not easy to do this, when everyone sees the importance of Quang Hai and especially Hoang Duc in the Vietnam team in recent years. But in a situation where he must replace or cannot use them, the new Korean captain needs to have specific plans for himself right from the first matches of the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers so that everything can run smoothly as soon as possible.

On the contrary, if we still wait for Quang Hai and Hoang Duc (in case they go abroad) to play at the AFF Cup 2024, it will be difficult for Mr. Kim and the Vietnamese team.

Man Utd won the FA Cup

In the 2023/24 FA Cup final at Wembley, as usual after the opening whistle, Man City easily controlled the game. However, this was not the powerful Man City team that fans know as they continuously passed the ball wrongly. Meanwhile, Man Utd showed confidence every time they launched an attack and created a certain danger to Stefan Ortega's goal.

In the 30th minute, Man Utd unexpectedly opened the scoring after Gvardiol's unbelievable mistake. From a long pass in their own half, Garnacho broke the offside trap and rushed down. Goalkeeper Ortega rushed out to block while Gvardiol also ran after Garnacho. Gvardiol then headed the ball past Ortega's reach, becoming a "gift" for Garnacho to easily finish into an empty goal.

Less than 10 minutes later, the gap was doubled for Man Utd. With the ball on the right wing, Garnacho passed to Fernandes on the edge of the penalty area. Unmarked, Fernandes passed to Mainoo who made a tricky pass into the far corner of the Man City net. Man City defended like a sleepwalker in this loss.

In the second half, Man City used all their strength to attack in search of a goal. In the 55th minute, Haaland quickly kicked the ball in the penalty area and sent it straight to the Man Utd crossbar. In the following period, Man City created terrible pressure on the Red Devils' goal, and goalkeeper Andre Onana had to continuously show his talent to save the home team, including two powerful long-range shots from Walker.

Man City's relentless efforts were rewarded in the 87th minute with Doku's goal. However, that was not enough for Man City to turn the game around. In the end, Man Utd convincingly defeated Man City 2-1 to win the 2023/24 FA Cup - an outcome that few people believed before the match took place. Man City could only blame themselves for playing so poorly, perhaps due to the aftershocks of victory after winning the 4th consecutive Premier League title.

Unbelievable score in AFC Champions League final

In the early morning of May 26 (Hanoi time), at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, the UAE representative created one of the finals with the biggest score difference in AFC Champions League history. Al Ain lost the first leg of the final in Japan with a score of 1-2, but quickly showed dominance when returning to their home field.

As early as the 8th minute, Soufiane Rahimi, Al Ain's brightest star, opened the scoring. The Moroccan striker continued his impressive performance in the AFC Champions League this season, when he directly won a penalty in the 33rd minute, allowing teammate Romero to raise the score to 2-0.

Yokohama F. Marinos' best performance in this match was to reduce the score to 1-2 in the 40th minute, thanks to Matheus. At that time, the final score of the two matches was 3-3. However, the turning point of the final match came in the 10th minute of injury time of the first half, when goalkeeper William Popp fouled Rahimi himself to prevent a clear scoring opportunity, thereby receiving a red card.

Playing with only 10 men in the second half, the Japanese representative could not withstand the terrible pressure from the home team. In the 67th minute, Rahimi completed his double in this match with a decisive finish.

This was the goal that almost broke Yokohama's will. They conceded two more goals in the 90+1 and 90+5 minutes, to close the final with the second biggest gap in AFC Champions League history.

Leverkusen complete title double

In the early morning of May 26 (Hanoi time), coach Xabi Alonso's team faced many difficulties against their opponents playing in Bundesliga 2. Kaiserslautern were rated much lower, but played with discipline and good fighting spirit.

Bayer Leverkusen showed clear signs of fatigue after their defeat in the Europa League final in midweek. The reigning German champions played cautiously and only managed to win the match with a superb long-range shot from Xhaka.

In the 17th minute, the combination between Schick and Florian Wirtz created conditions for the ball to bounce right to Xhaka's path. The former Arsenal star had a perfect finish from 25 meters to open the score.

However, Leverkusen did not have an easy match after the early opening goal. In the 44th minute, midfielder Kossounou received a second yellow card and was sent off for kicking the shin of midfielder Tomiak of Kaiserlautern.

From then on, the game turned around and the German second division team almost equalized. Having been reduced to 10 men, Leverkusen deliberately slowed down the game to slow down the pace.

With a higher level, coach Alonso's team can steer the match as they wish. On the other hand, Kaiserlautern tried hard but could not make a difference.

Leverkusen won their second German Cup (first in 1992/93). They also became the fifth club in German history to win the domestic double.

Leverkusen also officially went through the domestic season with an unbeaten record. They were unbeaten in both the Bundesliga and the German Cup throughout the 2023/24 season.

Novak Djokovic stopped at the Geneva Open semi-finals

Having not lost a set since the start of the season, but in the semi-final against Tomas Machac, the world number one male tennis player could not maintain his form on clay.

Novak Djokovic looked like he would win the first set when he was leading 4-2. However, the world number 1 tennis player let Tomas Machac win consecutive games to come back with a score of 6-4.

In the second set, Novak Djokovic played brilliantly and quickly won 6-0, equalizing the score 1-1. In the decisive third set, Djokovic lost the break in the third game and then the match belonged to Machac. The Czech player won 4 more games to end the set with a score of 6-1.

Winning 2-1 after 2 hours and 6 minutes of competition, Tomas Machac entered the final of an ATP Tour tournament for the first time in his career.