Local footballers fly to Jakarta for charity match

Three outstanding Vietnamese footballer’s Cong Vinh, Van Quyet and DinhLuat have been selected to play with a group of Asian stars in a friendly match against the Indonesian squad on May 11.

The Vietnamese players left Vietnam for Jakarta on May 8 to attend the match, organized by the Asia Football Federation (AFF), to raise money for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan which caused devastation last November.

They are expected to show their excellent professional skills and entertain football-fans at Gelora Bung Karno stadium.

The group of Asian stars will be led by coach Rajagobal and convene three days before the game against Indonesian opponents.

Rapid chess championships to start on May 12

The National Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships are scheduled to be held in HCM City on May 12.

The players will compete in the women's and men's singles and team events.

International Grandmaster and World No 36 Le Quang Liem will participate in this event, which will end on May 17.

The event's best players will be selected for the national team which will compete in the upcoming international events.

Japanese coach to lead Vietnam’s U23 squad

Japanese coach Toshiya Miura has agreed to take on the Vietnamese U23 team following negotiations with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).

The two-year contract was signed between VFF representatives and Toshiya Miura in Hanoi on May 8.

Toshiya Miura pursued his career in Japan and Germany before training Vegalta Sendai FC in 1997. He then took the chief coach role at various football clubs, including Mito HollyHock (1998), Omiya Ardija (2000-2001, 2004-2006), Consadole Sapporo (2007-2008), Vissel Kobe (2009-2010), and Ventforet Kofu (2010-2011).

He said that Vietnam has huge potential to develop its football sector. “I see great passion among young Vietnamese players and the love for football of Vietnamese people. It’s an honour but a big challenge for me,” he shared.

Under the lead of the Japanese coach, Vietnam’s U23 will compete at the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2014 from November 22-December 20.

The VFF plans to hold a press conference on May 10 to officially introduce chief coach Toshiya Miura.

Iran face Japan in showdown of futsal giants

Iran demonstrated another electrifying attacking performance to crush Uzbekistan 10-0 in their semi-final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Futsal Championships to set up a mouth-watering final against defending champions Japan in the final tomorrow.

Hossein Tayebi and Vahid Shafiei each scored hat-tricks, while Alireza Vafaei, Asghar Hassanzadeh, Ahmad Esmaeilpour, and Mohammad Shafari each scored one to help the 10-time champions to their third win in the competition where they have scored at least 10 goals.

Iran have scored a total of 50 goals in five games and conceded just six, four of which came against Viet Nam.

"We have tried our best in every match to reach the highest levels of the futsal game and we did that against Uzbekistan today as in previous matches," Iran coach Jesus Candelas said in the post-match press conference.

Candelas avoided talking about Japan's strong points ahead of the final.

"They won the title two years ago and we want to reclaim it this year. It will be a psychological and tactical game. We will have had good preparations for the match," the Spaniard added.

In the previous semi-final following a slow and lacklustre first half that ended 1-1, the second half saw defending champions Japan put five past Kuwait to win 6-1.

Inaba Kataro put Japan ahead five minutes after the opening whistle but Mohammad Mohammad levelled the match five minutes from the break.

Akira Minamoto put Japan ahead again just seconds after half-time before Kotaro scored his second to extend the lead to two goals. Kuwait were forced to take a chance and replaced their goalkeeper with an outfield player, but the gamble backfired and Japan easily caught their opponents on the counter-attacks to add three more goals.

Osodo Nobuya scored two goals to make it 5-1 and Hoshi Shota scored Japan's sixth goal to complete a comprehensive victory for the two-time champions.

"At half time, we talked about a couple of specific things but mostly about relaxing because we had a lot of possession in the first half but we did get to attack. We changed tactics in the second half and tried to attack the Kuwait goal, and we scored," Japan's Spanish coach, Miguel Rodrigo, said in the post-match press conference.

Kuwait coach Fonseca said: "Our players started nervously in the first half but were able to get back into the game."

"We conceded early goals in the second half and we wanted to recover but we were caught at the back and conceded more goals. Japan deserved the victory and I congratulate them," he said.

Iran and Japan have met each other in six finals and Iran have come out on top on all six occasions. Not surprisingly, the team from the Middle East are favourites for tomorrow's final.

This is the seventh final for Japan, who won the tournament in 2006 and 2012, while it is Iran's 11th appearance. Iran have gone on to win the tournament 10 times, beating Japan in the final on five occasions.

Local taekwondo athletes eye Asiad gold medals

Viet Nam will send 12 martial artists to vie for gold medals in the taekwondo event at the upcoming 17th Asian Games (Asiad) to be hosted in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to November 4.

According to Vu Xuan Thanh, head of the taekwondo section at the National Sports Administration, six men and six female athletes will compete in the sport.

Gold medal hopes are being pinned on Doan Thi Huong Giang, competing in the women's 49kg division, Pham Thi Thu Hien, taking part in women's 62kg division and Le Huynh Chau in the men's 63kg division.

Giang and Hien claimed one silver and one bronze medal, respectively at the German Open in Hamburg City last month. Chau is also expected to place after winning a berth to compete in the London Olympics in 2012.

To prepare for the event, the team will partake in the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on May 15-25.

"The Asian event will allow athletes to hone their skills and gain more experience for Asiad," Thanh said.

The team will also head to South Korea in June, for a training session and to compete in tournaments.

Viet Nam brought home one silver and three bronze medals from the 16th Asiad event in China in 2010, while female taekwondo athlete Tran Hieu Ngan pocketed a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Binh Thuan win 1,000m Dragon Boat dash

Binh Thuan won the men's 1,000m event at The National Dragon Boat Race Championship which took place on the Con Son Lake of the Con Son-Kiep Bac Tourism Site in Chi Linh Commune yesterday.

Hai Duong and Can Tho were the runners-up at the event.

On the women's side, Can Tho took the lead, followed by Quang Tri and Kien Giang.

The Hai Duong Province event attracted more than 500 athletes across 14 delegations wanting to compete in the 18 events held for both men and women.

This is the second time the tournament has been held, as part of the National Sports Games. It was first organised in Ha Tien, Kien Giang Province.

The event will finish on May 11.