2008 Olympics: Vietnam joined by Japan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar

2008 Olympics: Vietnam joined by Japan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar
16:47' 13/06/2007 (GMT+7)


VietNamNet Bridge – According to the draw results for the third qualifying round of Olympics in Beijing in 2008, which has just finished at Asian Football Confederation (AFC) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Vietnam’s Olympic team will be in the same group as Japan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.



This is similar to the draw results of the final round of the Asian Cup 2007: Vietnam is in the same group with Japan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates instead of Saudi Arabia.



According to AFC’s rules, the playing results of national teams are the main foundation for defining the tournament’s seeds and the rank at the drawing ceremony.



Three Asian teams which participated in the Olympic Athens 2004, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Iraq, are defined as the seeds in each group and considered the A-grade teams.



The B-grade teams comprise Bahrain, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, while the C-grade group is the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea, Qatar and Syria. The D-grade group has Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Australia.



Australia is named in the D-grade group since this team has just joined the AFC and hasn’t recorded any triumph in Asia.



In the A group, Iraq will compete with Lebanon, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea and Australia. This is considered the ‘group of death’ since all teams are strong.



The B group will see competition among the Republic of Korea, Bahrain, Syria and Uzbekistan.



The third qualifier round of the 2008 Olympics will take place from August 22 to November 21.



The top team from each group will represent Asia at the Olympics, along with the host China.

AFC transports Asian Cup tickets to Vietnam

AFC transports Asian Cup tickets to Vietnam
16:43' 13/06/2007 (GMT+7)


VietNamNet Bridge – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) transported the first tickets for the final round of Asian Cup 2007 to Hanoi on June 9, announced the Vietnam Football Development JS Company (VFD), the sole distributor of the tickets in Vietnam.



According to the initial agreement, AFC was to transfer the tickets for all eight matches in Vietnam to AFD on June 1, 2007. However, the Vietnamese ticket distributor has just received around 38,000 tickets for all eight matches. The largest number of tickets for a match is over 6,000 and 1,000 is the smallest number.



An anonymous source said that VFD might receive the remainder of all 36,000 tickets for each match on June 15.



To deal with scalpers and ‘fever’ for Asian Cup tickets, the distributor has applied some measures, such as booking tickets online at www.aleale.com.vn from May 5, 2007; booking tickets by dispatch for organisations; and selling tickets through agents.



Whatever the method of booking, each person can buy 10 tickets per match at most. Next week Asian Cup 207 tickets will reach the hands of Vietnamese football fans.



Related to the upcoming friendly matches between the Vietnamese national football squad, as of June 12, people can book tickets for the first match between Vietnam and Jamaica, which will take place on June 24, through the website www.aleale.com.vn

448 medals up for grabs at Games

448 medals up for grabs at Games
10:15' 05/06/2007 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – The 24th Southeast Asia (SEA) Games in Thailand this December will be the largest in its history with 43 events and 488 sets of medals to be won.


Crouching tiger: Wushu athlete Vu Tra My earned 9.55 points in the jianshu (sword performance) discipline at the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar last December. Vietnam expects to take home a number of medals in Wushu from the 24th SEA Games this December.
This decision was approved at the SEA Sport Council's meeting, which finished in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sunday.

Bodybuilding, polo, and squash have been added to the roster along with more medal categories in the wushu, gymnastics and shooting competitions.

The latest decision of the SEA Sport Council will help Vietnam finish in the top three and garner around 70 gold medals at the event, said Hoang Vinh Giang, general secretary of the Viet Nam Olympics Committee.

Two years ago, Vietnam came in third place with 71 golds at the SEA Games in the Philippines. It even topped the tally with 158 gold medals as the host of the event in 2003.

Vietnamese athletes will likely win gold medals again in wushu, karate, springboard, gymnastics, billiards, snooker and canoeing if they continue to improve on their training and fitness, Giang added.

Vietnam will compete in between 35 and 37 of the sporting events.

The games are scheduled to begin on December 6 and end on December 15. The men's and women's football matches will be played earlier in the year.

Vovinam to get its own federation

Vovinam to get its own federation
15:45' 03/06/2007 (GMT+7)


VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam plans to set up a national federation for the Vietnamese martial art Vovinam this summer.

The Vietnam Vovinam Federation (VVF) will be established mid-July, just ahead of the third World Vovinam Championship in Ho Chi Minh City on July 20-22.

The martial art has also been admitted into the Asian Indoor Games, which next take place in Vietnam in 2009.

The martial art is developing rapidly in Vietnam and Ha Noi set up the country’s first local Vovinam federation last month. The sport is also popular abroad and is now practiced in 35 countries around the world.

Vovinam, created by Master Nguyen Loc in 1938, is performed with or without weapons for self defence, health and personal development. It is based on the principle of harmony between hard and soft and capitalises on an opponent’s movements.

Duong takes triple gold in Singapore

Duong takes triple gold in Singapore
10:21' 05/06/2007 (GMT+7)


VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam's Vu Thuy Duong won a hatrick of gold medals in the breaststroke at the 2007 Southeast Asian Age Group Swimming Championship in Singapore over the weekend.

Duong got off to a flying start last Friday in the girls under-17 50m breaststroke, defeating rivals from Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

Duong later went on to win gold medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events.

In the boys' U-12 1500m freestyle, Tran Le Quoc Tuan won a bronze medal.

Vietnam, which entered 14 swimmers in this year, finished the competition in fourth place.

The 31st championship attracted 224 girls and boys from six countries, competing at U-12, U-14, and U-17 level.

Last year, Vietnam won three gold medals, three silvers, and five bronze medals to also finish fourth.

Int’l football academy gets off ground in Gia Lai

The Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) Football Club broke ground yesterday for an international football academy in the central highlands province of Gia Lai in collaboration with the English club Arsenal.

The club’s president Doan Nguyen Duc told the Daily after the ground-breaking ceremony that some US$4 million would be spent developing the HAGL-Arsenal-JMG academy, which will be up and running in six months’ time.

The five-hectare academy, around 10 kilometers from Pleiku City, will have two training grounds, 30 twin rooms for trainees, coaches and experts, as well as dining rooms and a health club.

Duc said that recruitment would start in April for youths in Vietnam and elsewhere in the world. The first training courses are scheduled to begin in September this year and the selected candidates will be trained free-of-charge.

“Arsenal experts will select 16 candidates among some 10,000 applicants for training in line with the standards of the English club at the academy,” Duc said. He added the candidates would be taught academics and English before they became professionals.

Duc revealed that Arsenal experts said that the players trained at the academy would be able to join Vietnam’s national football squad for international games.

Keith Edelman, managing director of the Arsenal Football Club, told reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony that the academy would train talent for playing in Europe so they would be qualified for the Vietnam team. He expected some 70% of the footballers trained at the HAGL-Arsenal-JMG academy would be for the team.

“I believe the academy was a very important development for the future of football in Vietnam and we are confident we will produce some world football stars of the future and also future Arsenal football club players,” Edelman said.

He explained that Arsenal was encouraged by the HAGL Football Club’s president Duc’s strategic vision in partnering with the English Club and JMG in the development, but it would be several years before this project yielded the results. “We all want to achieve and we are impressed with Mr. Duc’s foresight in joining with us in this venture.”

Edelman strongly believes that the HAGL-Arsenal-JMG academy will be successful.

Explaining the decision to opt for Arsenal, Duc said that with a famous training system in England as well as in developing nations, Arsenal would help HAGL train players.

The academy is part of the strategic cooperation agreement HAGL Corporation will sign with Arsenal today in HCMC. Duc said it took his company six months to talk with the English club before the two sides could ink it.

The agreement is outlined in HAGL Corporation’s strategy to expand the presence of its football club and business activities in Europe after achievements in Vietnam and other parts in Southeast Asia.


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HAGl-Arsenal Academy starts first Viet selection

Foreign experts associated with the joint venture Arsenal Football Academy in Vietnam started their first recruitment in Central Highlands province of Dak Lak from May 26-28. This national, pre-qualification stage will last till July. Only 16 applicats will qualify and be recruited for a seven-year training program at the Hoang Anh Gia Lai – Arsenal Academy.

In the first day of selection in Daklak, four out of 50 boys met technical requirements from the experts Robert Procureur and Guillaume Graechen, who will continue their job in other provinces. The four 11-year-old children are A Thuyn Mlo of Ede ethnic minority, Nguyen Van Lam, Doan Quoc Viet, and Nguyen Duc Thanh, Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

It is estimated that up to 20,000 boys from across the country will be tested in the pre-qualifiers. The 16 finalists will benefit from the free training course, with the first session to start late this year, and the players’ parents will receive 10 percent of their transfer fees after graduation, according to HAGL.

They will live, learn football, and follow an academic curriculum at the academy – a joint venture between Vietnamese top-flight V-League club HAGL and the world-famous English club Arsenal. The five-hectare school – with two stadiums, a building with 30 double rooms, and space for other facilities – costs US$4 million equally shared by the two partners.

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Yamaha to sponsor Vietnamese football

Yamaha Motor Company will soon become a sponsor of Vietnamese football with an announcement of financial assistance to the men’s and U23 teams.
The Japanese company will soon sign a one-year contract with the Vietnam Football Federation.

Its value has not been revealed yet but is likely to be more than the US$200,000 paid by the first sponsor, roof tile manufacturer Hoa Sen

Vietnam players named for Beijing Olympic qualifier

The coach of the Vietnamese national U23 football team named Friday 20 players to a training camp starting Friday to prepare for an Olympic qualifier against Indonesia at home on June 6.
Alfred Riedl dropped goalkeeper Thanh Tung and midfielders Quang Tinh, Duy Nam, and Mai Tien Thanh who are all sitting on one yellow card from the previous match.

He has named two newcomers – midfielder Phung Cong Minh of Binh Duong and striker Tang Tuan of Hoang Anh Gia Lai, the top scorer at the national U21 championship in 2005.

In the away fixture in March, Vietnam edged Indonesia 1-0.

A draw with Indonesia is enough to secure the team one of the two places from group A at next year’s Beijing Olympics. It has nine points from five games.

List of 20 players:

Goalkeepers (3): To Vinh Loi, Tran Duc Cuong, Nguyen Thanh Binh

Defenders (6): Doan Viet Cuong, Long Giang, Mai Xuan Hop, Van Bien, Nhat Tan, Chau Phong Hoa

Midfielders (6): Minh Chuyen, Vu Phong, Cong Minh, Dong Huy Thai, Quy Suu, Ngoc Dieu

Forwards (5): Cong Vinh, Thanh Binh, Phuc Hiep, Anh Duc, Tang Tuan

Results of Vietnam’s games at Asian Olympic group A:

February 28
Vietnam – Lebanon
: 2-0

March 14
Indonesia – Vietnam
: 0-1

March 28
Oman – Vietnam
: 3-1

April 18
Vietnam – Oman
: 2-0

May 16
Lebanon – Vietnam
: 1-0

June 6
Vietnam – Indonesia
:

Vietnam to compete with St.John University for VTV Cup

VietNamNet Bridge - Hosts Vietnam will compete for the VTV Cup with the US’s University of St. John on May 18 after edging Kazakhstan’s Zetyssu in the first semi-finals with a 3-0 victory.

The Vietnamese team continued their impressive run with the fifth victory to reach the VTV Cup final. (Photo: VTV)It has been the third consecutive time, hosts Vietnam have reached the final of the VTV Cup. They lost to Japan’s Denso in the 2005 VTV Cup final and Sichuan a year later.The University of St. John faced almost no troubles from Japan’s Shikoku in a later semi-final, winning in three straight sets. Coach Thai Thanh Tung said after the match: “We were determined to win the match to pay faith to Vietnamese fans whose support has inspired us during the tournament.”The Vietnamese and Kazakh teams exchanged points in the first minutes of the opening set. When the score was 4-4, Vietnam started to go in front winning five points while Zetyssu won two. The Vietnamese side then led 11-7 before the Kazakh team fought back to level the score of 12-12. With great support from the home crowd, who filled the Phan Dinh Phung gymnasium to capacity, the Vietnamese team raised their performance, winning 25-15. Zetyssu fought hard for points in the second set, forcing the hosts to sweat. The Vietnamese team capitalised a momentum after an easy victory in the first set, taking a lead of 11-7 but Zetyssu tried hard to return to the game. They then caught the hosts by levelling 14-14. The score chase continued until Vietnam took 19-16, then 22-21. Finally, Vietnam won 25-22. After defeat in the second set, Zetyssu demoralised and collapsed in the third set. Therefore, the Vietnamese side won 25-14 easily.Coach Tung said: “Zetyssu are strong opponents, so we tried to avoid to confront directly with Kazakh blockers. Today, Ngoc Hoa, Dieu Chau, Bui Hue and Ha Thi Hoa gave a super performance.”Talking about Vietnam’s possible opponents in the final, Mr Tung said: “The University of St. John or Shikoku are tough opponents in the final.”Mr Tung was right as the University of St. John in a semi-final, taking place 40 minutes after Vietnam’s victory over Zetyssu, outplayed Shikoku and proved to be possible favourites. The American students edged Shikoku in the opening set, winning 25-17. The Japanese team then made a good start in the second set, taking a 3-0 lead but slipped and went down 25-13. Shikoku fought hard in the third set, which kept them in the game, before losing 25-23 to the University of St. John. The defeat left Shikoku in a third-placed play-off with Zetyssu, while Vietnam will compete with the University of St. John in the third final.

Vietnamnet

Under-20 Arsenal to play friendlies in Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge - Arsenal's under-20 team will play two friendlies in Vietnam in 2007. This is part of a working session between Hoang Anh Gia Lai and representatives from the Vietnam-based embassies of the UK and France.
Accordingly, Hoang Anh Gia Lai reached an agreement with Arsenal's under-20 team, who will play a friendly with the Vietnamese national or Olympic team and a friendly against Hoang Anh Gia Lai.
The British and French ambassadors to Vietnam visited to and held a working session with Hoang Anh Gia Lai's officials.
The representatives from the British and French embassies, who visited the Hoang Anh Gia Lai-Asenal JMG Academy, spoke highly of the academy, saying that in the future, Vietnam may will have players playing in the Premier League or French Division 1.

Source: Nhan Dan

Former famous football players study coaching in Germany

14:22' 05/05/2007 (GMT+7)

Le Huynh Duc.
Le Huynh Duc.
VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has sent Hong Son and Huynh Duc, two former famous players of Vietnam football, to Germany to attend a two-month coaching course.



According to VFF General Secretary Tran Quoc Tuan, sending Hong Son and Huynh Duc to Germany is part of the VFF’s plan to create a qualified source of coaches for Vietnamese football.



Previously, VFF sent coaches Phan Thanh Tung and Hoang Anh Tuan to Switzerland for a ten-day training course.



The current generation of young coaches who were famous players before has gradually proven their talent. The most outstanding faces are Tran Cong Minh, Vo Hoang Buu, Nguyen Hong Son and Le Huynh Duc, who are considered the inheritors of veteran coaches like Mai Duc Chung, Vuong Tien Dung and Le Thuy Hai.

AFC Champions League Dong Tam Long An denied by Li’s late winner

09:40' 27/04/2007 (GMT+7)


VietNamNet Bridge - Ten-man Vietnamese champions Dong Tam Long An slipped their 2-1 lead to a 3-2 defeat to Shandong Luneng from China with Li Jinyu scoring a late winner in their second game in Long An on April 25.

Dong Tam Long An took a 2-1 lead after 36 minutes with goals by Kabanga Tshamala and Nguyen Viet Thang. However, the send-off of Nguyen Hoang Thuong just before half-time made them pay the price.

Li scored two goals in the second half, on 49 and 90 minutes, respectively to deny the Vietnamese champions. Earlier, on 26 minutes, Wang Yongpo scored the first equaliser for the Chinese visitors.

The match was disrupted late in the second half by a floodlight failure and resumed after about five minutes.

The defeat left Dong Tam Long An empty-handed after four games in Group D.

Dong Tam Long An, who were outplayed in their 4-0 defeat to Shandong Luneng in China two weeks ago, delighted their fans by taking the lead with a spectacular strike by Kabanga after 14 minutes.

Receiving the ball from Viet Thang with his back to goal 25 metres out, Kabanga spun and fired past goalkeeper Li Leilei into the top right corner, opening the scoring.

Shandong Luneng returned to level terms 15 minutes later, when Wang curled an exquisite shot just inside the right post after with a 25 metre freekick, after being brought down by Hoang Thuong.

Dong Tam restored their lead on 36 minutes when Viet Thang picked up the ball in midfield and burst clear, outpacing two Shandong defenders before sliding a low shot past Li into the bottom left corner.

The Vietnamese side suffered a big blow three minutes before the break when Cui Peng went down in the Dong Tam box under challenge from Hoang Thuong. The referee awarded the Chinese team a penalty and sent off the Dong Tam player for his second bookable offence.

Zivkovic took the spot kick, beating goalkeeper Fabio Dos Santos but shooting off the right post.

After the break, Shandong Luneng, with the man advantage, started strongly and four minutes into the second half, they levelled. Zivkovic made up for his penalty miss by providing an excellent cross from the left that was headed past Santos by an onrushing Li.

The Chinese team dominated the game but were unable to find a way past goalkeeper Santos. The floodlights at the Long An stadium went out with seven minutes remaining, prompting a five-minute delay.

When game resumed, it appeared that the Vietnamese champions would hold on for their first point of the AFC Champions League until Li’s dramatic late intervention helped Shandong Luneng to preserve their perfect

Nhan Dan