U22 Vietnam is not allowed to use overage players at SEA Games 33; Man City comes from behind to beat Chelsea
The regulation of using only U22 players for men's football at SEA Games 33 has been approved; Man City came from behind to beat Chelsea; Madison Keys won her first Grand Slam title... are notable sports news of the past 24 hours.
U22 Vietnam is not allowed to use overage players at SEA Games 33
On January 25, the regulation of using only U22 players for men's football atSEA Games 33has been approved and will officially apply.
Accordingly, at the 33rd SEA Games, participating teams will not have slots for players over 22 years old, which has been applied in many previous tournaments.
The Organizing Committee of the host country Thailand said that this decision was made to ensure sustainable development and create opportunities for young talents to compete, while creating a fair playing field for participating teams.
Regarding the preparation plan for the 2025 SEA Games, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and coach Kim Sang-sik have proactively developed a plan early on. The U22 Vietnam team has also been given the opportunity to gather, train and participate in an international friendly tournament in China.
At the ASEAN Cup 2024, a number of young players with the potential to become key players in the SEA Games squad were also called up, such as goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien, midfielder Khuat Van Khang, and striker Bui Vi Hao.
According to plan, during FIFA Days next March, U22 Vietnam will participate in the international U22 football tournament in China.
SEA Games 33 will take place from December 9 to December 20 in Thailand.
Arsenal won 3 points in a match with 2 red cards
On the night of January 25, Arsenal struggled to defeat Wolverhampton with a score of 1-0 at Molineux Stadium.
Wolves started the game with confidence and almost opened the scoring in the 10th minute. Nelson Semedo sprinted down the right wing before passing the ball to Pablo Sarabia. However, the Spanish midfielder's volley went wide of the goal.
Arsenal responded with dangerous attacks from Kai Havertz. The German striker had two headers after precise crosses from Leandro Trossard, but both were unable to beat goalkeeper Jose Sa.
In the 43rd minute, the match suddenly heated up when Arsenal's young star Myles Lewis-Skelly received a straight red card after a foul on Matt Doherty. Referee Michael Oliver made a controversial decision when the foul point was too far from the Wolves goal.
In the second half, Arsenal played better despite having only 10 men. Declan Rice soon threatened the home team's goal with a powerful long-range shot that forced goalkeeper Sa to show his talent to block.
The advantage of having more players helped Wolves gradually regain control of the game. Matheus Cunha had two good chances to open the score for the home team, but could not take advantage of them.
In the 76th minute, the match turned around when Wolves' Joao Gomes received a second yellow card after a dangerous tackle on Thomas Partey. The two teams returned to a balance in terms of numbers.
Just four minutes after Wolves were downed, Arsenal broke the deadlock, with substitute Riccardo Calafiori firing a fine volley from close range into the far corner.
In the final minutes of the match, Wolves pressed forward to search for an equalizer. Rayan Ait-Nouri and Cunha continuously threatened Arsenal's goal, but goalkeeper David Raya played brilliantly, preserving the 1-0 victory for the "Gunners".
The hard-fought victory kept Arsenal's hopes of winning the title alive. The North London side are now six points behind Liverpool, having played a game more.
Haaland scored twice, Man City came back against Chelsea
In the early morning of January 26, Man City defeated Chelsea 3-1 at home in round 23 of the Premier League.
This match marked the debuts of two new Man City players, Omar Marmoush and Abdukodir Khusanov. However, Khusanov had a debut to forget.
In the third minute, the Uzbek defender made a serious mistake. He fumbled when the ball bounced over his head and then continued to make an unsafe pass back. Jackson quickly broke free, passed the ball across to Noni Madueke who finished close to the goal, opening the score for Chelsea.
Having taken an early lead, Man City pressed forward with a strong attack. Phil Foden's shot hit the post, while Josko Gvardiol missed at least two good chances from close range.
After much pressure, Man City finally equalized in the 42nd minute. From a sharp counter-attack from Ilkay Gundogan, Gvardiol rushed in to score the rebound against Chelsea, after Matheus Nunes' unsuccessful attempt to finish.
In the second half, Man City continued to control the game. In the 63rd minute, Erling Haaland took advantage of Levi Colwill's mistake, got away from the goalkeeper and finished delicately, raising the score to 2-1 for Man City.
In the 85th minute, Haaland completed his double after Foden's assist. The Norwegian striker has 18 goals in the Premier League this season, just 1 less than Mohamed Salah.
This result helped Man City rise to 4th place in the Premier League table, surpassing Chelsea. Meanwhile, "The Blues" have gone through the 4th consecutive year without being able to beat Man City at Etihad.
"Fat" Ronaldo causes outrage again
Real Valladolid president, legendary Ronaldo Nazario de Lima, continues to be the center of criticism.
After half of the 2024/25 season, Real Valladolid's major shareholder still refuses to attend the team's matches at the José Zorrilla Stadium. Previously, El Pais reported that "fat" Ronaldo intended to cheer on the team in the match against Real Madrid in round 21 of La Liga on January 25.
However, at the last minute, the Brazilian legend changed his plans. He will not go to the José Zorrilla stadium to watch Real Valladolid face his former team. One of the reasons "fat" Ronaldo refused to attend the match of his team was because Real Valladolid fans protested against the former Brazilian player.
The former Brazilian star is considered indifferent to the team, leading to the current poor results. After being promoted to La Liga in the 2024/25 season, Valladolid has invested modestly in the transfer market. Ronaldo has almost cut off contact with the team and fans. He has not appeared in the stands of Valladolid since the end of August.
The rare time Ronaldo "The Alien" was present at Valladolid was during the Shareholders' Meeting, but did not even give any assessment of the past season.
"Ronaldo go home," one of the Valladolid fans' banners read during the match. Globo said "Fat" Ronaldo wanted almost nothing to do with Valladolid anymore, and would speed up the process of selling the Spanish club.
Madison Keys wins first Grand Slam title
Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka created a dramatic final with extremely high professional quality. And with the score of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, the American female tennis player won the first Grand Slam title of her career.
In her 46th Grand Slam appearance, Keys approached the final with great confidence, serving brilliantly and hitting powerful forehands to win the first set 5-3.
Aryna Sabalenka recovered in set 2 by improving her serve and putting a lot of pressure on Keys, then continued to explode in set 3. However, Keys also showed her mettle and experience, building up the rhythm to create a spectacular race with Sabalenka, winning every point.
In the decisive period, Keys took a 6-5 lead with two thunderous forehands. She added another brilliant return to win 7-5 and claim her first Grand Slam title at the age of 29. Two days earlier, Keys had defeated world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, becoming the first player to beat both top-ranked players at a Grand Slam since 2009.
Growing up in Illinois, Keys emerged as a tennis prodigy early on. However, in the following years, she failed to live up to expectations. In her first Grand Slam final at the 2017 US Open, she couldn't handle the pressure and was defeated by her close friend Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-0. There was a time when Keys lost faith in herself and feared she would never win a Grand Slam title.
But Keys' husband, Bjorn Fratangelo, has always encouraged her to keep going. He recommended she change her racket, change her strings, and tweak her serve, both to avoid injury and to improve her game. The changes have worked. Keys is unbeaten this year, winning titles in both Adelaide and Melbourne.
