Van Duc is in the top 3 best strikers of the semi-finals; Prime Minister encourages the Vietnamese team

Prime Minister sends letter of encouragement to Vietnam team before AFF Cup final

On December 8, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a letter to the Vietnam national men's football team, encouraging the team to compete in the upcoming AFF Cup final.

In the letter, the Prime Minister wrote: “On behalf of the Government, I warmly congratulate and commend all the staff, coaches and athletes of the Vietnam National Men's Football Team, especially Head Coach Park Hang Seo, for their excellent performance in the group stages and semi-finals to advance to the finals of the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup after 10 years of waiting by Vietnamese football fans.”

With the whole country's love and belief in victory for our beloved Team, I hope the whole Team will prepare well, unite, compete tenaciously and creatively to win the 2 matches of the final round.

The Prime Minister said: "Even though we compete far away, please believe that at home, the heroic atmosphere of the vibrant sea of ​​flags is directed towards our beloved Team.

Once again, I would like to send a message to the National Team: Under the majestic flag with the flying yellow star, be calm, confident, and play your best for the colors of our beloved Vietnam!".

Van Duc and Quang Hai are among the top 3 best strikers in the AFF Cup semi-finals.

Fox Sports Asia has completed the selection of 11 players for the typical squad of the semi-finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018. Nguyen Quang Hai and Phan Van Duc were chosen by Fox Sports Asia as 2 of the 3 best strikers of the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2018.

In addition, in the goalkeeper position, although Van Lam conceded 2 goals in the semi-finals, both of these goals were not the fault of the Vietnamese goalkeeper. Therefore, Van Lam is still the number 1 goalkeeper of the Vietnamese national team and the Southeast Asian championship up to this point, so he deserves to be the best goalkeeper in the semi-finals. In midfield, according to Fox Sport Asia, Pham Duc Huy was the most outstanding player in the midfield of the Vietnamese team in the 2 semi-finals and was the best midfielder in the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2018.

Vietnam Futsal National Team Coach Nominated for World's Best

In a recent announcement by the Futsal Planet website, Vietnam Futsal coach Miguel Rodrigo has been officially nominated in the list of 10 best Futsal coaches in the world in 2018 at the club level. This year, Thai Son Nam Club led by coach Miguel Rodrigo played impressively when winning the domestic arena and reaching the final of the Asian Futsal Club Championship.

Previously, Vietnamese futsal received surprising news when goalkeeper Ho Van Y was nominated for the 2018 World Best Goalkeeper award announced by the Futsal Planet website. This was the first time in the history of Vietnamese futsal that a representative was honored at this prestigious level.

Falling to Chelsea, Man City lost the top spot to Liverpool

Premier League results

Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool
Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield
Burnley 1-0 Brighton
Cardiff 1-0 Southampton
MU 4-1 Fulham
West Ham 3-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 2-0 Man City
Leicester 0-2 Tottenham

The defending champions' unbeaten streak was ended in their trip to Chelsea. Against the opponent's dense defense, Man City's attack was neutralized.

In such a situation, the surprise came in the 43rd minute. Hazard passed the ball to Kante to finish, the ball went high and too fast for goalkeeper Ederson to block. Chelsea scored with the first shot of the match.

Since Kante's goal to break the deadlock, the game was completely in Chelsea's hands. In the 78th minute, David Luiz put an end to the efforts of defending champions Man City with an unstoppable header from a corner kick. Losing 0-2 at Stamford Bridge, Man City were officially dethroned by Liverpool at the top of the table after the 16th round.

Because in the match at the same time, The Kop easily won 4-0 on Bournemouth's field thanks to Salah's hat-trick and Cook's own goal.

Meanwhile, Arsenal needed a late goal from Torreira to beat Huddersfield 1-0 to stay in the race for the top of the table. The Gunners are currently 5th, level on points with Chelsea but behind on goal difference.

Messi scored twice, Barca kept the top spot in La Liga

Liga Results

Espanyol 0-4 Barcelona
Atletico Madrid 3-0 Alaves
Valencia 1-1 Sevilla
Villarreal 2-3 Celta Vigo

Having rested in the Copa del Rey, Lionel Messi was in full form during the away match against Espanyol in La Liga. Messi turned the away match into his own show. In the 17th minute, Messi took a beautiful free kick to open the score for Barca. 9 minutes later, it was Messi again with an assist for Dembele to double the gap. In the 65th minute, Messi completed the perfect match day with another goal from the free kick. Barca's remaining goal was scored by Luis Suarez (45'). Winning the match 4-0, Barca firmly consolidated their top position with 31 points, 3 points more than the team behind Sevilla.

Mohamed Salah breaks Torres' record

With his hat-trick against Bournemouth, Mohamed Salah became the fastest player in Liverpool's history to reach 40 goals (in the Premier League). The Egyptian star only needed 52 matches to reach this milestone, surpassing Torres (60 matches). In EPL history, only 2 players reached 40 goals faster than Salah: Alan Shearer and Andy Cole (both 45 matches)./.