VFF appoints foreign coach for U16 Vietnam; Hoang Duc receives highest signing bonus ever in V.League history

VFF appoints foreign coach for U16 Vietnam

On the afternoon of July 22, coach Cristiano Roland officially accepted to lead the Vietnam U16 team. Mr. Roland is currently the head coach of the Hanoi U17 team. Before that, the 2010 V.League champion was an assistant at the Vietnam U17 team. Therefore, Cristiano Roland is no stranger to working in Vietnam.

After the 2024 Southeast Asian U16 tournament, coach Tran Minh Chien said goodbye to U16 Vietnam. The 0-5 loss to Indonesia in the third-place match caused the players to receive a lot of criticism. In fact, U16 Vietnam did not play badly in this tournament. However, their poor ability to take advantage of opportunities and their physical decline as the tournament neared the end caused them to suffer a heavy defeat.

Mr. Roland is expected to bring a breath of fresh air to the Vietnam U16 team in the upcoming international tournaments. After the National U17 Finals at the end of this month, coach Roland will officially start his new job with the VFF.

According to the Brazilian coach, he still watches every match of U16 Vietnam and is ready to build a new plan with his students.

Hoang Duc received an unprecedented high signing bonus in V.League history.

After much speculation, the future of midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc has been clarified. During a meeting with the Board of Directors of The Cong Viettel on the morning of July 22, the midfielder from Hai Duong officially confirmed that he will leave the team after his old contract expires on January 11, 2025.

Previously, Hoang Duc prioritized renewing his contract with the military team, but recently The Cong Viettel has not made any positive moves. According to the investigation, in the latest meeting, the military team offered a "huge" contract to convince the midfielder born in 1998 to reconsider. However, Hoang Duc asked for permission to refuse because he "has a new direction".

Hoang Duc will certainly not go abroad as originally planned. Hoang Duc has signed a 3-year contract with a "famous" boss in the V.League. The signing fee and salary regime were not disclosed by both sides. However, according to Bongdaplus's research, the amount Hoang Duc received for this contract is worth no less than 30 billion VND/3 years. This also helps the midfielder born in 1998 become the most expensive player in the history of Vietnamese football.

Although he has signed a contract with a new owner, Hoang Duc's official destination after leaving The Cong Viettel in January 2025 has not been revealed. This midfielder may join two northern teams playing in the V.League and does not rule out the possibility of playing for a rookie team in the First Division in the remaining half of the season.

Mbappe beams at Real Madrid's away kit launch

Along with his teammates, Mbappe has just launched Real Madrid's away kit for the 2024/25 season.

This is the second new kit that Real Madrid has introduced for the 2024/25 season after the home kit. The main and prominent color of this shirt is orange.

According to Real Madrid's homepage, Adidas designed this outfit inspired by the sparkling stars that appear in the night sky above the Bernabeu stadium.

Notably, this is the first time in 10 years that Real Madrid have worn an orange-dominated uniform. Remember, in the 2013/14 campaign - the season Los Blancos won the Champions League for the 10th time in history - the team wore orange away uniforms.

The most prominent star to appear in the campaign promoting Real Madrid's 10-year away kit is Mbappe. This is the first time the French international has debuted the new Real Madrid shirt.

Nearly a week ago, Mbappe officially signed a contract and debuted for Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Currently, the 25-year-old striker is on summer vacation in the US.

After the break, Mbappe will join training with Real Madrid. The French captain is expected to play his first official match for Los Blancos in the European Super Cup against Atalanta on August 15 in Warsaw, Poland.

PSG asked to buy Sancho

According to AS, PSG is speeding up negotiations to sign a contract with Sancho. The player born in 2000 is highly appreciated by the leadership of the Capital team, as well as coach Luis Enrique. As for Sancho, the English star is said to be excited about the plan at the Parc des Princes club.

MU and PSG have been negotiating for a week. The Old Trafford team is also eyeing a player from the reigning Ligue 1 champions, Manuel Ugarte. The Uruguayan midfielder has reached a personal agreement with the "Red Devils" and is only waiting for the two clubs to agree on a transfer fee. PSG is asking for 60 million Euros, a figure MU cannot meet.

"It is not impossible that MU will use Sancho to gain an advantage in recruiting Ugarte. PSG's priority right now is to strengthen the attack after Mbappe leaves," AS revealed.

After the 2023/24 season, Sancho returned to MU. This player proactively met and apologized to coach Erik ten Hag and was forgiven. Both sides agreed to end all conflicts to work towards a common goal. Coach Ten Hag also praised Sancho as a good player and just let him have his first start in a MU shirt after more than 400 days.

As for MU, the Old Trafford club is still willing to sell Sancho if the price is right./.