Vietnam leaves Thailand far behind on FIFA rankings; PSG wants to take De Gea away from MU
(Baonghean.vn) - The International Football Federation (FIFA) announced the rankings of national teams in April 2019; UEFA denied postponing the Champions League schedule for the weekend and Premier League transfers are notable news on April 5.
FIFA rankings in April, Vietnamese football leaves Thailand far behind
Accordingly, although the Vietnamese team did not play any matches in March, it still moved up one place in the rankings (to 98th in the world), thereby continuing to lead the Southeast Asian region and leaving Thailand far behind (114th in the world).
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FIFA rankings may change after King Cup 2019. Photo: FIFA |
It is known that Vietnam's current score is 1227 points, temporarily ranked 16th in Asia and lost to Jordan (ranked 15th) by only 2 points. In March, the Faroe Islands team played 2 matches in the Euro 2020 qualifiers and lost both. They were deducted 25 points and dropped 5 places on the rankings (from 97 to 102). This is also the reason why Vietnam, despite not playing, still increased 1 place on the FIFA rankings in April 2019.
In June, the Vietnam national team will participate in the King's Cup 2019 friendly tournament held in Thailand. This is a "FIFA Day" tournament and it will decide our seed group before the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers draw ceremony taking place this July.
Seeding groups ahead of the 2020 World Cup qualifying draw.
Group 1: Asia 1-8
Group 2: Asia 9-16
Group 3: Rank 17-24
Group 4: Rank 25-32
Group 5: 33rd place (play-off round 38-43)
Vietnam national football team missed the chance to face Liverpool FC
In mid-January 2019, the news that VFF was negotiating to invite Liverpool FC to Vietnam for a friendly match attracted the attention of domestic football fans. The expected match between the Vietnam national team and Liverpool FC is in the summer, after the English Premier League ends.
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Photo: Getty |
It is known that VFF and its partners have almost completed the agreement to bring Liverpool to Vietnam with a fee of over 4.3 million USD. However, in a recent development, VFF representative General Secretary Le Hoai Anh confirmed that this match cannot take place because the two sides cannot meet the conditions to execute the contract.
Surprising statistics in Cong Phuong's first starting match in K.League
On April 3, the Nghe An striker played a full match for Incheon FC in the 2019 K-League. Unfortunately, his club lost to Daegu with a score of 0-3. However, on an individual level, Cong Phuong is considered the best player on the team.
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Cong Phuong plays as a starter for the first time in K.League. Photo: FBNV |
During the match, Phuong had a total of 17 touches of the ball. The Korean media also commented: "Cong Phuong is the only bright spot on Incheon United's side". The 23-year-old striker also has an accurate passing rate of up to 82.3%. In addition, he is very willing to retreat to support the defense, actively fighting for the ball on the home field. The above numbers partly show Cong Phuong's desire to contribute and most likely with the recent performance, CP23 will continue to be trusted in Incheon's upcoming matches.
UEFA officially speaks out about the possibility of Champions League being moved to the weekend
UEFA President Aleksandar Ceferin has dismissed rumours that Champions League matches could be moved to weekends in the future. Earlier, it was reported that UEFA was considering moving European Cup matches to weekends instead of midweek as usual.
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UEFA President Aleksandar Ceferin. Photo: UEFA |
However, Mr. Ceferin himself confirmed that UEFA is still satisfied with the current format of the Champions League and said that the information about moving the match to the weekend is a rumor. "We have not discussed playing the European Cup on the weekend, I say that to clarify all the information once and for all," Ceferin said at a recent press conference.
Man United goalkeeper De Gea is being courted by PSG
De Gea's contract with Man United will expire in June 2020 and the Old Trafford board is negotiating to extend the contract. Sport Mail reported that the MU board is willing to increase De Gea's salary but he wants to become the highest paid player at Old Trafford. Currently, the highest paid player in the MU squad is striker Alexis Sanchez when he receives 350,000 pounds/week.
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Goalkeeper De Gea. Photo: Eurosports |
While MU's leadership is still having a headache, Independent said PSG is really interested in recruiting De Gea. The French capital team needs a good goalkeeper to replace Gianluigi Buffon next season. Therefore, they are willing to pay De Gea's desired salary of 350,000 pounds/week.

Vietnamese youth football team beat Thailand again, won the International U19 Championship
(Baonghean.vn) – After defeating U19 China with the only goal of Tran Manh Quynh in the semi-finals, U19 Vietnam met U19 Thailand in the final and coach Grachen and his team continued to show excellent performance.