Vietnam finalizes list of participants in AFC U23 Championship; Thai press still shocked after losing to Vietnam

U23 Vietnam officially finalizes the list of players to attend the 2022 AFC U23 Championship

On May 23, Coach Gong Oh Kyun officially announced the list of 25 players to train in the UAE and participate in the 2022 AFC U23 Championship in Uzbekistan.

According to the newly announced list, 14 players who just won the 31st SEA Games gold medal will joinU23 VietnamThe players participating in the 2022 AFC U23 Championship include Nguyen Van Toan, Quan Van Chuan, Bui Hoang Viet Anh, Nguyen Thanh Binh, Luong Duy Cuong, Vu Tien Long, Huynh Cong Den, Nguyen Hai Long, Ly Cong Hoang Anh, Dung Quang Nho, Le Van Do, Phan Tuan Tai, Nguyen Van Tung and Nham Manh Dung.

The U23 Vietnam players who just won the 31st SEA Games gold medal but were not called up by coach Gong Oh Kyun include midfielder Nguyen Trong Long, striker Ho Thanh Minh and defender Le Van Xuan (injured).

List of U23 Vietnam. Photo: VFF

In addition, the U23 Vietnam squad participating in the 2022 AFC U23 Championship also lacks a number of players who have experience in the V-League but are injured, such as central defender Dang Van Toi, defender Hoang Xuan Tan or striker Mai Xuan Quyet.

Coach Gong Oh Kyun also added some new players to the U23 Vietnam team such as Nguyen Thanh Nhan (HAGL), Ha Trung Hau (Binh Duong), midfielder Vo Dinh Lam (HAGL), Khuat Van Khang (Viettel FC), striker Le Minh Binh (CAND), Tran Danh Trung (Viettel FC) and Nguyen Van Truong (Hanoi FC).

According to the plan, U23 Vietnam will gather this afternoon (May 24) and then take a flight to UAE for training and a friendly match with U23 UAE. This match is scheduled to take place on May 28.

On May 29, Coach Gong Oh Kyun and his team will go to Uzbekistan to participate in the 2022 AFC U23 Championship. In this tournament, Vietnam U23 is in Group C and will meet Thailand U23 on June 2, Korea U23 on June 5 and Malaysia U23 on June 8.

VNPT Group rewards 2 billion VND to the U23 men's football team and the Vietnam women's football team

On May 23, in Hanoi, VNPT Group held a ceremony to congratulate and reward the players of the U23 men's football team and the Vietnamese women's football team for winning and successfully defending the championship at the 31st SEA Games.

Coach Park Hang-seo gives souvenir shirt to VNPT Group.

It is known that the bonus of 2 billion VND comes from the contributions of all VNPT staff and employees to the champions. By providing and ensuring a series of important IT-VT services and infrastructure for the Congress, up to now, VNPT has fully completed its tasks as a diamond sponsor for the Congress.SEA Games 31The Group has provided the strongest technology solutions and IT infrastructure to contribute to the success of the Congress, thereby contributing to creating a beautiful, dynamic and strongly developing image of Vietnam in the eyes of international friends.

As a leading IT-VT Group, playing an important role in pioneering digital transformation in Vietnam, not only with the SEA Games, VNPT also regularly contributes resources to serve major cultural - sports - social - political events of the country and the world such as the US - North Korea Summit (2019), APEC Summit (2017) ... According to the representative of VNPT, we really want to bring the best and most modern service experiences to serve the people as well as contribute to making the country famous.

Vietnam won 446 medals at SEA Games 31

At the end of the 31st SEA Games, the Vietnamese Sports Delegation won the overall first place with a total of 446 medals, including 205 gold medals, 125 silver medals and 116 bronze medals. By winning 205 gold medals, the Vietnamese Sports Delegation broke the "record" of 194 gold medals won by the Indonesian delegation at the 19th SEA Games held in 1997. This is also a historical milestone for the Vietnamese Sports Delegation since competing in the Southeast Asian "arena".

On May 23, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee of SEA Games 31, Head of the Vietnamese sports delegation at SEA Games 31 had a meeting with press agencies to inform about the results of the Games.

Answering the question of why the achievements of the Vietnamese Sports Delegation were much higher than expected, Mr. Tran Duc Phan said that according to the initial plan, the Vietnamese Sports Delegation would win from 145 to 185 gold medals. “During the preparation process, we also asked the departments to carefully review each event, each athlete, and carefully calculate each opponent to see what kind of opponents our athletes had to compete with. After many events completed their competitions, we directed the departments to review whether the calculations about our opponents were correct or whether we expected this athlete but the other countries brought another athlete. Through the review, it shows that we calculated about 80% of our opponents correctly,” said Mr. Tran Duc Phan.

One of the successes of the 31st SEA Games is attracting the attention and support of a large audience. Photo: TD

According to the head of the Vietnamese Sports Delegation, the Heads of the Delegations of the countries also shared that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the training and competition process of athletes of the countries was interrupted and severely affected. Meanwhile, although the pandemic prevented athletes from training and competing abroad, under the attention of the Party and the State, athletes of the Vietnamese Sports have continued to train continuously for more than 2 years at the National Sports Training Centers to prepare for major tournaments, including the SEA Games. In particular, competing at home has also helped athletes have more motivation to compete and achieve the best results. "Regarding the organization, the countries assessed that despite the pandemic, Vietnam successfully organized the 31st SEA Games," Mr. Tran Duc Phan emphasized.

Thai press still in shock after losing to U23 Vietnam

The prestigious Thai sports site Siam Sports continuously posted behind-the-scenes articles about the final match for the gold medal of the 31st SEA Games men's football, between U23 Vietnam and U23 Thailand with shocking headlines.

Describing the defeat of coach Mano Polking's team against U23 Vietnam and the disappointment of Thai football fans after the final match for the SEA Games 31 gold medal, Siam Sports wrote: "The Golden Star Warriors hurt the war elephants. Nham Manh Dung's 83rd-minute goal helped the home team U23 Vietnam win the final, winning the SEA Games 31 gold medal and causing My Dinh Stadium to explode with emotion. It's sad that both the Thai men's and women's teams could not overcome Vietnam."

Under the above article, Siam Sports posted an article with the content: "Coach Mano Polking apologized to Thai fans but the Brazilian coach was proud of the performance of U23 Thailand. Meanwhile, the head of the U23 Thailand team, Madam Pang, did not make excuses for the defeat of the home team and only apologized for disappointing Thai football fans."

Coach Polking lost to coach Park Hang-seo.

Quoting coach Polking, Siam Sports wrote: "After losing 0-1 to U23 Vietnam on the evening of May 22, Mr. Polking posted on his personal Twitter page that he was very proud of his players and regretted that U23 Thailand had too few days of training before entering the tournament, unlike U23 Vietnam, who trained and prepared for nearly 100 days."

Next, the article also quoted the Head of Delegation "Madam Pang" Nuanphan Lamsam: "U23 Thailand played their best but still could not beat U23 Vietnam and could only win the silver medal in the end. As the head of the delegation, I apologize to the fans for disappointing them but I do not make excuses for this defeat. In fact, U23 Thailand had more possession of the ball but in the end conceded a goal because of a header. In football, winning is winning, losing is losing and today we need to face reality even though we will feel uncomfortable. Congratulations to U23 Vietnam for winning the gold medal at the 31st SEA Games".

After the 31st SEA Games, Thailand U23 will compete at the 2022 AFC U23 Championship in Uzbekistan. In this tournament, the team from the Golden Temple country is led by coach Worawut Srimaka and will face Vietnam U23 (June 2), Malaysia U23 (June 5), and South Korea U23 (June 8) in the group stage.

Liverpool recruits first new player, midfielder Fabio Carvalho

After agreeing to pay £7.7 million to Fulham, Liverpool have made their first signing in the 2022 summer transfer window, Fabio Carvalho.

Carvalho is a Portuguese talent born in 2002. This player, who is part of the European U21 Selecao, has made a major contribution to Fulham's promotion to the Premier League next season, scoring 10 goals in 36 Championship matches this season.

To get this attacking midfielder, Liverpool had to pay up to 7.7 million pounds. This is of course an investment for the future, but the team's board of directors confirmed that they will not let Carvalho go to other teams on loan in the 2022/23 season.

Fabio Carvalho.

Carvalho will officially join the club on July 1 and is likely to be part of the tour to the Far East. In fact, Liverpool wanted to recruit Carvalho earlier this year but Fulham wanted to keep him to serve the promotion goal.

Fulham are a very good source of players for Liverpool. In 2019, Liverpool brought Harvey Elliott from this London team.

Back to Carvalho, Liverpool will pay Fulham an initial £5m, with another £2.7m to be paid after the terms of the contract are met. Fulham will also receive 20% of any future proceeds from Liverpool selling Carvalho.