VietNam Culture

Friday, October 1, 2010

Vietnam posts unconvincing win in U23 opener

Vietnam posts unconvincing win in U23 opener Vietnam’s U23 footballers beat Malaysia 2-1 in the opener of the Thang Long Cup on Tuesday.

However, the victory at HCMC’s Thong Nhat Stadium also exposed some lapses.

Despite training together for less a month and some players joining the squad for the first time, the home team started the game full of confidence and in high spirits, drawing cheers from the 15,000 or so spectators.

The 4-5-1 formation resorted to by coach Phan Thanh Hung, who took Hanoi T&T to the V-League 2010 championship, worked effectively.

The most prominent player in the home team was skipper Bui Van Hieu who formed a good link between the midfielders Duc Thien, Ngoc Dieu, Van Thang and Thanh Trung.

The midfielders worked very well, making it possible for striker Anh Duc to score two goals midway through the first half.

But the two early goals caused the Vietnamese young players to lose concentration, exemplified by goalie Tan Truong’s goal kick directly to Talaha Idlan less than 20 meters. The latter did not spurn the gift.

Some complacent players almost cost the home team dear at some times in the second half.

Speaking to Thanh Nien after the game, coach Thanh Hung said, “We played exceptionally in the first half and took advantage with two early goals.

“However, my young players got too satisfied. They didn’t concentrate after the goals. Not only goalkeeper Tan Truong but also other positions wanted to “show off” their personal skills; and the whole team didn’t play very well in the second half.”

Malaysian coach Rajagobal said, “Vietnam played very well and we conceded two goals early in the game.

“Yet I am pleased with my players’ display in the second half. They will play better and better after each game.”

In the previous match, Iran drew 1-1 with Singapore. Iran’s coach Gholamhossin Peyrorang was upset with the referee because he felt the latter was not strict enough with the violent Singaporeans who made his players underperform.

The September 28-October 2 Thang Long Cup is being held in Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate Thang Long – Hanoi’s 1,000^th anniversary.

The Thang Long-Hanoi Cup ended in Hanoi on Friday with Vietnam’s national football team coming in second behind the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Related Articles

Vietnam posts unconvincing win in U23 opener

Vietnam posts unconvincing win in U23 opener Vietnam’s U23 footballers beat Malaysia 2-1 in the opener of the Thang Long Cup on Tuesday.

However, the victory at HCMC’s Thong Nhat Stadium also exposed some lapses.

Despite training together for less a month and some players joining the squad for the first time, the home team started the game full of confidence and in high spirits, drawing cheers from the 15,000 or so spectators.

The 4-5-1 formation resorted to by coach Phan Thanh Hung, who took Hanoi T&T to the V-League 2010 championship, worked effectively.

The most prominent player in the home team was skipper Bui Van Hieu who formed a good link between the midfielders Duc Thien, Ngoc Dieu, Van Thang and Thanh Trung.

The midfielders worked very well, making it possible for striker Anh Duc to score two goals midway through the first half.

But the two early goals caused the Vietnamese young players to lose concentration, exemplified by goalie Tan Truong’s goal kick directly to Talaha Idlan less than 20 meters. The latter did not spurn the gift.

Some complacent players almost cost the home team dear at some times in the second half.

Speaking to Thanh Nien after the game, coach Thanh Hung said, “We played exceptionally in the first half and took advantage with two early goals.

“However, my young players got too satisfied. They didn’t concentrate after the goals. Not only goalkeeper Tan Truong but also other positions wanted to “show off” their personal skills; and the whole team didn’t play very well in the second half.”

Malaysian coach Rajagobal said, “Vietnam played very well and we conceded two goals early in the game.

“Yet I am pleased with my players’ display in the second half. They will play better and better after each game.”

In the previous match, Iran drew 1-1 with Singapore. Iran’s coach Gholamhossin Peyrorang was upset with the referee because he felt the latter was not strict enough with the violent Singaporeans who made his players underperform.

The September 28-October 2 Thang Long Cup is being held in Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate Thang Long – Hanoi’s 1,000^th anniversary.

The Thang Long-Hanoi Cup ended in Hanoi on Friday with Vietnam’s national football team coming in second behind the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Related Articles

Nalbandian, Haas, Ginepri pull out of Heineken Stars

HCMC - David Nalbandian of Argentina, Tommy Haas of Germany and Robby Ginepri of the U.S. have pulled out of the Heineken Stars 2010 tennis tournament in HCMC this weekend because of injuries, organizers said.

David Nalbandian, former World No. 3, currently ranked 33rd in the world, will be replaced by Mardy Fish from the U.S., currently seeded 19.

Mardy Fish is the 2008 US Open quarterfinalist and the silver medalist at Olympic Athens 2004. The U.S. player lost to Roger Federer 1-2 at the ATP Masters Tour 1000 Cincinnati in the finals. Fish was an ATP London 2010 finalist after beating Andy Murray in the semis.

Tommy Haas will be replaced by world No. 42 Tommy Robredo from Spain. Robredo earned nine ATP World Tour men’s singles titles and three ATP World Tour men’s doubles titles.

Meanwhile, Robby Ginepri, currently ranks 102nd on ATP rankings was a winner of the ATP Tour Indianapolis 2009, was the third player pull out from the tournament in the last minutes.

Ginepri who is 102 seed will be replaced by 33 seed Juan Monaco from Argentina. Monaco was winner of the Austria Open, Buenos Aires and Poertschach in 2007 and he won two men’s doubles titles in Valencia and Auckland in 2008.

The three players will compete Friday and Saturday at Phu Tho Gymnasium in HCMC with world No. 22 Sam Querrey from the U.S., who was a winner of the Serbia Open 2010 at the Heineken Stars 2010.

The four superstars will play knockout tennis with both winners advancing through to the finals. The champion will receive US$40,000, the runner-up US$20,000 and the two others, who will only play one game each, US$10,000.

This is the third time the Heineken Stars has taken place in Vietnam. The second tournament in 2008 included Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, Robin Soderling and Mardy Fish. Tsonga was the champion after defeating Soderling.

The Heineken Stars 2010 is being organized by the Vietnam Tennis Federation in conjunction with Heineken’s local manufacturer Vietnam Brewery Ltd., and locally based TLT Sports Marketing.

Related Articles

Vietnam secure 2-1 win over Malaysia in Eximbank Cup

Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Duc (L) fights for the ball with a Malaysian player during their Eximbank Cup match in Thong Nhat Stadium on Tuesday - Photo: Ba Chau

HCMC – Vietnam’s U-23 football team defeated Malaysian counterparts 2-1 in the opener of the international football tournament - Eximbank Cup 2010 at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCMC on Tuesday while Iran U-21 tied 1-1 with Singapore’s U23 in the earlier game.

The Malaysian team was said to be strong because they would send their best players who edged Vietnam 1-0 in the finals of the 25th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) last December in Laos. However, Coach K. Rajagopal made seven changes from that line-up.

The Vietnamese team participated in the round-robin tournament with their strongest squad in hopes of keeping the cup at home. However, Vietnam only kept eight key players in their SEA Games’s line up.

Under heavy pressure from local fans, hosts Vietnam, coached by Phan Thanh Hung, dominated the game from the beginning and they placed more pressure on their opponents.

The local fans celebrated the victory just 18 minutes into the game when striker Nguyen Anh Duc opened the score after receiving the ball from midfielder Thanh Trung in the penalty box.

The home side continuously organized attacks on Malaysian defending lines after the goal and Nguyen Anh Duc doubled for his team in the 25th minute.

However, goalie Bui Tan Truong made a serious mistake when he kicked the ball from the penalty area to his teammates. The ball, however, found the Malaysian striker Tahala, who made no mistake, narrowing the scoring gap for his team in the last minutes of the first half.

The second half was a different story when the visitors bounced back and put more pressure on their opponents aiming to level the scoring gap but all their scoring chances were denied by goalie Bui Tan Truong.

Despite good ball possession in the last minutes, Vietnamese forwarders failed to grasp any scoring chances, leaving the score at 2-1 upon the referee’s whistle at the end of the game.

In the earlier opening game, Singapore, who made eight changes from the team that played at the SEA Games, including the drafting of two players aged above 23, tied 1-1 with Iran, who are the youngest in their line-up, as all players are under 21.

Malaysia will play Iran U-21 at 4:00 p.m. and Vietnam U23 take on Singapore at 6:00 p.m. in their second games on Thursday.

Iran U21, Singapore U23 and Malaysia U23 together with hosts Vietnam U23 are competing at the Eximbank Football Cup, a tournament to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long –Hanoi.

The four teams are playing in a round-robin tournament with the team that gets the most points being declared the championship. The tournament is taking place from Wednesday to Saturday at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCMC.

The winners will receive a cash prize of US$20,000, the runners-up US$10,000, and the third team US$5,000.

Related Articles

Woods ready for Ryder Cup assault

tiger woods

Tiger Woods of the US watches his drive from the second tee during the final round of the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio June 6, 2010

Photo: Reuters

Tiger Woods said he was ready to help lead the United States to Ryder Cup glory here Tuesday as anticipation mounted ahead of the 38th edition of the biennial golfing showdown.

The world number one, who was given a wildcard on to the American team after a hellish year of personal torment and poor form, said he believed he was on the road to rediscovering his best form as this week's contest loomed.

The 34-year-old superstar cut a relaxed figure before and during a morning practice round, receiving a rousing reception from a large gallery at Celtic Manor before ripping an immaculate drive off the first tee.

Afterwards, Woods told a press conference he was relishing the opportunity to resume combat with Europe again after a four-year absence. Injury ruled him out of the American victory at Valhalla in 2008.

"It would be great to get a win and I'm looking forward to getting out there and contributing and hopefully getting some points," Woods said.

"It's just so neat to be a part of a team and quite frankly, we don't get to do it very often."

Woods said he had spent the build-up fine-tuning his game under the tutelage of coach Sean Foley.

Asked if he felt he was getting back on track after hitting the worst round of his career at the Bridgestone Invitational in August, where he finished at 18-over-par, he replied: "Absolutely."

Woods, however, batted away questions alluding to the turmoil in his private life which culminated in the collapse of his marriage to Swedish former model Elin Nordegren, a popular figure on the professional circuit.

Asked if he had detected any frostiness from team-mates's wives and girlfriends who have made the trip to Wales, Woods replied: "No, we are here as a team. We're here to win the Ryder Cup."

Woods had earlier teed off in a group including Hunter Mahan, Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker, the latter of whom he is expected to partner in Friday's opening fourballs and foursomes at the demanding 7,378-yar par-71 Twenty Ten layout.

"They are both great players," Pavin said of Woods and Stricker. "Tiger has been No.1 in the world for a long time, and Steve was playing great last year at the time. It's a pretty healthy combination."

Pavin said he expected the Americans would be able to cope with the traditionally partisan galleries once battle commences on Friday.

"The rookies will be prepared because we've talked about it," Pavin said. "But I don't see a situation happening out there that the people will applaud for bad shots or missed putts."

"There might be a comment here and there, but it's few and far between, and I think the fans out there are very respectful of both sides."

Europe captain Colin Montgomerie meanwhile was left purring with pleasure after he watched controversial Irish wildcard pick Padraig Harrington reel off a string of eagles and birdies in a practice round.

Montgomerie's decision to choose Harrington ahead of higher ranked world number eight Paul Casey has come under fire, but the veteran Scotsman insisted Tuesday the criticism was unjustified.

"I know what he can do and that's why I picked him," Montgomerie said. "I've never seen anybody play like he did today.

"He's playing the best golf of my team out there, and I feel the criticism early on before The Ryder Cup is very unjustified.

"He's a world class player. He's won three major championships, and the stature of the guy is second to none within our team."

Montgomerie later revealed he had backtracked on his ban of European players using Twitter during Ryder Cup week, saying team members could use the micro-blogging site provided they did not reveal details from team meetings.

"Whatever is said within that team room stays within that team room," Montgomerie said, clearly exasperated to be quizzed about an issue which had been dubbed "Twittergate".

"I thought I was the captain of a golf team, not the captain of a tweeting organization," he muttered.

Related Articles

Arsenal beat Partizan in Champions League

Andrey Arshavin

Andrey Arshavin

Photo: AFP

Arsenal beat 10-man Partizan Belgrade 3-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday despite missing a penalty, in a match where Gunners goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski restored some of his tarnished reputation.

The English side wasted several chances after Andrey Arshavin gave them a 15th minute lead and then saw Partizan draw level through Brazil-born striker Cleo.

Then, after Marko Jovanovic was sent off early in the second half, Arshavin saw his resulting penalty well saved by goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic, before striker Marouane Chamakh restored the London club's lead 19 minutes from time.

Sebastien Squillaci headed in substitute Samir Nasri's corner to make it 3-1 in the 82nd minute.

There was still time for Partizan to force a penalty but Fabianski, in for the injured and equally under-fire Manuel Almunia, dived to his right to save Cleo's spot-kick.

"We had a good game but because we couldn't finish it off, always in the Champions League you can be punished but in the end we got an important win," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Victory gave Arsenal two wins out of two in Group H after they thrashed Braga 6-0 in their opener while Partizan were left searching for their first points, having lost 1-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk in the first round.

"We have seen the Lukasz I see every day," Wenger said of Fabianski.

"I believe it's a good encouragement for him."

However, Wenger refused to say if the Pole would still be between the posts for this weekend's all-London clash against Premier League leaders and reigning champions Chelsea.

But the Gunners boss said Spanish star midfielder Cesc Fabregas could return from injury in time for the game.

"Cesc Fabregas has a little, little chance," he said.

Arsenal took the lead but they failed to make the most of their early dominance and saw several chances go to waste before Denilson inexplicably handled a Radoslav Petrovic cross inside his own box.

Cleo, recently granted Serbian citizenship, scored from the spot.

A pre-match power failure in the Serbian capital, which affected the floodlights, had put a question mark against the game going ahead as scheduled.

But an Arsenal side featuring six changes from the team that suffered a shock Premier League loss to West Brom last weekend were able to kick off on time against the Serbian league leaders.

They opened the scoring when England youngster Jack Wilshere saw his route to goal blocked but still had the awareness to back-heel the ball into the path of the onrushing Arshavin, who shot into the bottom corner.

Soon afterwards, Arshavin had a chance for a second goal but Stojkovic was quickly off his line to make a smart save before denying Tomas Rosicky.

And when Arshavin's chip cleared the advancing Stojkovic, the quickly covering Jovanovic was able to hack the goalbound shot away.

Early in the second half, Partizan found themselves a man down after Jovanovic, the last man, was sent off for a foul just inside the area on Arsenal striker Chamakh.

But Arshavin, given the chance to put Arsenal in front from the resulting penalty, saw former Wigan keeper Stojkovic block a weakly struck spot-kick aimed at the centre of the goal.

However, Arsenal did restore their lead when Chamakh's header from Rosicky's cross was tipped onto the bar by Stojkovic, only for the striker to pounce on the loose ball and score from close range.

Related Articles

Real Madrid made to wait for victory at Auxerre

Di Maria

Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria scores a goal

Photo: AFP

A late strike from substitute Angel di Maria earned Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid a narrow 1-0 win over Auxerre in the Champions League group phase match Tuesday.

The visitors dominated the game in terms of possession and territory but looked destined for their third goalless draw of the season until di Maria struck with nine minutes to play.

The Argentine winger, a second-half replacement for Lassana Diarra, stole in front of Benoit Pedretti to cushion a right-wing cross on his chest and then angle a left-footed half-volley into the bottom-right corner.

Up to that point Auxerre had defended with composure and they almost took the lead moments before di Maria's intervention, only for Real centre-back Pepe's header to strike his own post and bounce back into play.

"There were matches before where we created about 15 chances but didn't score, like at Mallorca or at Levante," said Mourinho, whose team were held to a goalless draw at Levante on Saturday.

"Everyone said that we didn't deserve to win as we didn't score. Tonight, if everyone's being pragmatic, we scored so the victory is deserved."

Auxerre's players felt Sergio Ramos had handled the ball in the build-up to the goal and coach Jean Fernandez said his players had switched off at the wrong moment.

"There's a bit of frustration with the goal but I think the hand-ball was involuntary," said the Auxerre manager.

"Some referees would have whistled but it wasn't the case. We stopped playing for a brief moment and that allowed di Maria to get into that position and score."

Having won 2-0 at Ajax in their opening fixture, Real top Group G with six points, but the three points long looked far from a formality on an awkward night for the nine-time European champions at a packed Stade Abbe-Deschamps.

Fernandez's men secured a surprise third-place finish in Ligue 1 last season and their well-established counter-attacking formula proved a tough nut to crack for their illustrious opponents.

Having bossed the first period, Real found clear chances more difficult to come by in the second and Mourinho cut an increasingly animated figure on the touchline as the minutes ticked by.

Cristiano Ronaldo went close twice in the space of a minute, seeing a trademark free-kick punched away by Olivier Sorin and heading over from the following crossbar, but he largely endured a frustrating evening.

It had taken Auxerre less than four minutes to get the home fans on their feet.

In attempting to clear a Delvin Ndinga through-ball, Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas succeeded only in smacking it against Dennis Oliech but the Kenyan could not get to the ball before it crossed the line for a goal-kick.

Oliech failed to connect with a Steeven Langil cross moments later, but thereafter the hosts set up semi-permanent residence in the Auxerre half.

Ronaldo shot straight at Sorin, Diarra twice fired off-target and Gonzalo Higuain had an effort kicked off the line by Kamel Chafni after a neat turn following a corner.

Sorin also did well to push away a volley from Marcelo after the Brazilian left-back hared onto a lofted Xabi Alonso pass.

Amid that flurry of chances, Ndinga headed inches wide of Casillas's goal from a Pedretti free-kick and both Pedretti and Dariusz Dudka tested the Spanish international in the minutes approaching the interval.

The first clear chance of the second half also fell Auxerre's way, but half-time substitute Ireneusz Jelen dragged his shot wide after being set free by a well weighted pass from Pedretti.

Related Articles

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)