Vietnamese version of 2014 World Cup Guide printed

FourFourTwo – 2014 World Cup Guide – has been published in Vietnamese to help local football fans gain a better understanding of the world’s largest football competition, scheduled for Brazil later this year.

The Vietnamese publication provides information about the 32 football squads who made it through to the group stage of the 2014 World Cup. It includes interviews with world-famous football stars and analysis on outstanding tactics by experienced commentators and editors of FourFourTwo.

In addition, the magazine publishes stories about top Vietnamese striker Le Cong Vinh during his competition at J-League 2.

World Cup 2002 held in Japan and the Republic of Korea is also mentioned through memories of Slovenian footballer Nastja Ceh, who competed, and is now playing for Thanh Hoa Club of V-League.

FourFourTwo also tells tragic stories about the downfall of famous players, who at the height of their career earned billions of US dollars, but then spent it all on betting and gambling, and some even committed suicide.

Son and Liem to compete at international chess tournament

Viet Nam's top chess players Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son will compete in the 2014 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Dubai between June 15-21.

Most of world's top 15 players have been confirmed to take part in the event. The two-time Aeroflot Open champion and world blitz champion Liem will have to meet arch rivals such as world No 1 Carlsen Magnus of Norway and world No 5 Anand Viswanathan of India to defend his title.

The prize pool for each event, rapid and blitz, is US$200,000 with respective winners to be awarded $40,000 each.

Nam rises in world junior rankings after strong showing in Belgium

Rising tennis star Ly Hoang Nam has moved up two spots in the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) latest junior rankings to 65th.

Nam's impressive performance in the recent Astrid Bowl Charleroi, Belgian International Junior Championships has been instrumental to the rise. He made it to the third round of the event.

At the ongoing 2014 Roland Garros Junior Championships's qualifying round in Paris, Nam, seeded 6th lost to Bastian Malla from Chile in straight sets.

T&T shrug off Samson suspension

Defending champions Ha Noi T&T's coach Phan Thanh Hung says that Hoang Vu Samson's four-match absence was a considerable loss but that the team's depth will help it defend its title.

The Ha Noi-based football club suffered a blow in its bid to defend the title when the main striker Samson was suspended for four matches following a brawl with home players. He and Hai Phong's Dong Duc Thang were given a red card.

Hai Phong's Nguyen Van Nam, who was determined to spark the brawl as he placed his elbow into the nape of Samson's neck while fighting for the ball, was banned from participating in football activities in any kind of form until August 31.

"I felt sorry for what happened in the match against Hai Phong when the players could not keep calm," Hung said, adding that his team accepted the ban.

Nigerian-born Samson have been the most prolific goal-scorer for Hung's team this season, contributing 18 goals until the incident.

He has also been the leading scorer as the defending champions have been in a very good form, winning four successive games to return to the top position.

The title race is entering the important stage with seven games to go. Samson's absence will clearly have an effect on T&T's morale as well as its goal-scoring ability.

The Da Nang-born coach, however, said that it was regrettable that the team lost him in the important period of the season, but it was not a major concern. And with many quality players in the squad, his team can play well without Samson.

"We have a lot of good players with a decent goal-scoring record. Gonzalo has become sharper after returning from injury. Nguyen Van Quyet is finding his form while Pham Thanh Luong and Thach Bao Khanh can also score goals," Hung said.

Gonzalo Marrokle, not Samson, has indeed been the main scorer. The Argentinian scored both goals in his team's 2-0 victory over SHB Da Nang last Wednesday and netted two out of three goals in the match against Hai Phong on Sunday.

Another reason for Hung's confidence is that attacking midfielder Nguyen Van Quyet, who scored one goal against Hai Phong, started making his presence felt at the V-League, while diminutive playmaker Luong was able to recapture the form of the past.

It will not take much time to discover how important Samson is to T&T when it will have two away games against a decent Dong Nai and a formidable Binh Duong within five days.

Binh Duong is definitely the beneficiary of this situation because coach Nguyen Thanh Son's team will take on its opponent at home without having to face a lethal striker like Samson.

Vietnamese masters claim victory at regional chess event

Vietnamese masters dominated the ASEAN Age Group Chess Championships, which is being held at Macau, after the first rounds.

FIDE Women's Master Nguyen Thi Mai Hung yesterday won over FIDE Master Hafiz Arif Abdul of Indonesia in the boys' U20 category.

The Vietnamese, who has just collected the last standard to become an International Women's Grandmaster, will next face teammate Nguyen Anh Khoi in the second round.

Khoi had defeated Ruaya Virgen Gil of the Philippines yesterday. The world U10 champion is currently only 12 years old.

Another Vietnamese in this pool is Dang Hoang Son. He also bagged a win over Ye Jianmeng from China. He will face Foo Zhi Rong Benjamin of Singapore next.

Viet Nam also triumphed in all other age categories except for the boys' U16.

The masters will compete in nine rounds, with the finals scheduled on June 16 at the Cotai Sands Conference Centre.

AFC U14 girls' championship begins on June 10

The Asian Football Confederation's U14 Girls' Regional Championship (ASEAN zone) is scheduled to take place in HCM City's Thong Nhat Stadium from June 10 to 15.

Seven teams from Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and the host Viet Nam will play in the round-robin tournament.

According to the draw, debutants Singapore are in Group A along with the Philippines, Cambodia and reigning champions Viet Nam.

Meanwhile, 2013 runner-up Thailand will battle it out with Myanmar, which was in third place last year, and Malaysia in Group B.

Thailand and Myanmar will renew their rivalry after the Thais won 3-2 in the first round last year.

On the opening day of the tournament, Singapore will meet the Philippines and Viet Nam will take on Cambodia.

As the host country, Viet Nam will send three referees, namely Bui Thi Thu Trang of Hai Phong, Phan Le Ai Duyen and Dang Thi Siem of HCM City, to the tournament.