U23 Vietnam narrowly lost to Hai Phong Club; Indonesian fans angry, attack Messi on social media

Cong Phuong scores, U23 Vietnam narrowly loses to Hai Phong Club; Coach Hoang Anh Tuan regrets after U17 Vietnam's draw; MU will not continue to pursue Tottenham striker Harry Kane in the 2023 Summer transfer window.... are the main news in this morning's sports news roundup (June 18).

Cong Phuong scores, U23 Vietnam narrowly loses to Hai Phong Club

On the afternoon of June 17, U23 Vietnam had a practice match with Hai Phong at Lach Tray Stadium. It is called U23 Vietnam because most of the players are young. However, coach Philippe Troussier also let Vietnamese players who did not play in the match against Hong Kong (China) such as Thanh Long, Viet Anh, Van Toan or Cong Phuong play.

In the practice match, Hai Phong dominated with 2 goals from Huu Son, while U23 Vietnam only had an honorary goal from Cong Phuong, reducing the score to 1-2. However, this goal could help Cong Phuong be selected by coach Philippe Troussier to be in the starting lineup for the friendly match against Syria.

Previously, the Vietnam national team and U23 team had two practice matches, losing 0-2 to the Hanoi Police team and winning 1-0 to the Hong Kong team.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan regrets after U17 Vietnam's draw

Vietnam U17 just had an unlucky opening match at the 2023 AFC U17 Championship against a very determined opponent - India U17.

U23 Vietnam narrowly lost to Hai Phong Club; Indonesian fans angry, attack Messi on social media

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan talked about the reason why U17 Vietnam did not play at their best: “As we predicted before the match, the opening match is always difficult. The players were mentally stressed so they did not play at their best. When U17 India lost their physical strength, our players pushed up the formation but unfortunately missed some scoring opportunities. However, in my opinion, the draw result was reasonable, consistent with the developments on the field.”

Speaking more about his players’ performance, Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan said: “Psychological stress caused the players to not play at their best and not be able to execute their tactics well. When they scored a goal, they could not maintain the game and let U17 India continue to control the ball more.”

The match between U17 Vietnam and U17 India ended in a 1-1 draw. U17 Vietnam opened the scoring in the first half but U17 India equalized in the second half. U17 India dominated in the first half but did not have many scoring opportunities. U17 Vietnam played well in the first half but were somewhat outclassed in the second half.

After the first round of matches, all four teams in Group D have one point. Vietnam U17 will play Japan U17 in the next match.

Angry Indonesian fans attack Messi on social media

Indonesian fans were angry when Messi did not come to Indonesia with the Argentina team to participate in the friendly match against the host team. Messi, Di Maria, and Otemandi were allowed to rest by coach Scaloni after the match against Australia in Beijing (China). Messi boarded a private plane to return to his home country Argentina after the match.

U23 Vietnam narrowly lost to Hai Phong Club; Indonesian fans angry, attack Messi on social media

Messi was rested after the match against Australia.

Several of Messi's social media accounts were attacked and criticized. Instagram user syahrulfirmansyah35 said the Argentine superstar's actions were disrespectful to Indonesian fans.

“Why does he value vacation more than his Indonesian fans? Remember he is nothing without his Indonesian fans,” the account commented.

Indonesian Football Federation President Erick Thohir said he felt sad that Messi did not come, but the Argentina team still had many other stars.

The match between Indonesia and Argentina will take place on June 19.