VFF summons overseas Vietnamese players for U19 Vietnam; Striker banned from playing at EURO for inciting celebration

VFF calls up overseas Vietnamese players for U19 Vietnam

On the afternoon of June 24, VFF announced the list of the Vietnam U19 team preparing for the U19 Southeast Asian finals. Coach Hua Hien Vinh included midfielder Ho Huu Hung, who is currently playing for Bohemians Praha Club in the Czech Republic's national championship and has played for the Czech Republic's U15/U16 team.

Ho Huu Hung, born in 2006, holds both Vietnamese and Czech citizenship. This player has spent 13 years training and playing football in Europe.

Before playing for Bohemians Praha, Ho Huu Hung played for FC Slovácko from 2011 to 2016 and SK Slavia Praha from 2016 to 2018. Ho Huu Hung's preferred position is attacking midfielder and winger.

According to the plan, the Vietnam U19 team will train at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center. On July 16, the team will leave for Indonesia to participate in the 2024 Southeast Asian U19 Championship with the official list shortened to 23 players.

MU activates contract release for Dutch striker

MU bosses are negotiating with the representative of Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee, and are ready to activate the contract release clause worth 34 million pounds.

Joshua Zirkzee has become the number 1 target as the Manchester team is looking for a potential young striker to replace Martial, and compete for the striker position with Rasmus Hojlund.

Zirkzee's deal with Bologna includes a buyout clause of €40m (£34m).

Last season, the 23-year-old striker made a strong impression in Serie A with 11 goals and 4 assists after 34 appearances.

Zirkzee immediately caught the attention of many other big teams, including Arsenal and AC Milan.

Zirkzee is valued at around £50 million on the transfer market, so Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team consider him a bargain if they successfully sign him.

Now MU is jumping into negotiations with the Iranian "super agent" to soon reach an agreement to transfer Zirkzee.

Striker banned from playing at EURO for provocative celebration

Mirlind Daku, the Albanian striker, paid a heavy price for his thoughtless actions after the match on June 19.

After Albania's 2-2 draw with Croatia, Mirlind Daku took to the megaphone and celebrated with the fans. It would have been fine if the player hadn't shouted provocative words.

Despite his apology, the Rubin Kazan player was still banned by UEFA for two matches, effective immediately. Accordingly, Daku will be banned from playing in the final group stage match against Spain on June 25 and the round of 16 match, if Albania advances to the group stage.

"Daku failed to comply with the general principles of conduct, violated the basic rules of proper conduct for players, took advantage of sporting events to propagate unsporting things, affecting the reputation of football and the EURO tournament," UEFA's control, ethics and disciplinary body announced.

Not only Daku, the Albanian team was also fined 2,500 euros for letting fans light flares, 20,000 euros for letting fans run onto the field during the match and 25,000 euros for "propagating provocative, inflammatory messages, not suitable for a major sporting event".

China team naturalizes more players

Titan Sport revealed that the Chinese Football Association (CFA) is completing the naturalization procedures for two foreign strikers playing in the Chinese Super League (CSL). They are striker Oscar Maritu (Cangzhou Mighty Lions) and midfielder Serginho (Changchun Yatai).

Both stars have played in the CSL for more than five years, and are eligible to immediately receive Chinese citizenship. Oscar Maritu is a Congolese striker, while Serginho is a Brazilian-born attacking midfielder. If Maritu and Serginho are added in time for the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Chinese team promises to be significantly stronger.

In the past, the "Golden Dragons" had a period when they fielded 4 or 5 naturalized players who were not of Chinese origin. In addition to Maritu and Serginho, the CFA also planned to naturalize several other foreign players.

After luckily qualifying for the third round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, the Chinese team has set big ambitions by being ready to open the door to the next wave of naturalization.

China ranked 2nd in Group C in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia. They won the ticket to the next round in the group when they beat Thailand.

In the recent series, the Chinese team only used one naturalized player, Fernandinho. The naturalized players in the past all lost their form or were not highly appreciated by the coach./.