Vietnam ranked fourth at the 2023 Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship after losing 2-3 to Japan in the third-place playoff in Thailand on Wednesday afternoon.

Japan faced a tough challenge from Vietnam throughout the match.

The Vietnamese players gave the back-to-back champions a score chase in the opening set before claiming a surprising 25-21 win.

Japan bounced back to show its dominance and take a commanding 25-14 win in the second set.

In the third set, though Vietnam initially maintained a 4-4 and 6-6 tie, Japan seized control at 10-7 and eventually made a comeback to secure a 25-22 victory.

In the fourth set, Vietnam managed to turn things around in one of the most emotionally charged moments of the match. 

Starting with a 4-8 deficit, the Vietnamese side rallied to score five consecutive points, taking a 9-8 lead and eventually securing the set with a score of 25-20. 

This dramatic 2-2 equalizer forced the match into a decisive fifth set.

Vietnam entered the fifth set with confidence, yet Japan promptly took an 8-5 lead. 

The Vietnamese players, however, showed resilience, making a determined effort to narrow the score to 10-12. 

But during the critical moments, Japan remained composed and clinched victory with a score of 15-11.

As a result of this defeat, Vietnam placed fourth in the overall rankings, their best-ever finish at the Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship.

Vietnam’s previous most notable achievement was a fifth-place finish in both 2015 and 2017.

Host Thailand claimed their third Asian title with a remarkable unbeaten record after winning the five-set thriller against China in the final match on the same day.

The top three teams — Thailand, China, and Japan — earned a spot in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship.

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TV360, the over-the-top (OTT) media service provided by military-run Viettel Telecom and the official rights holder of the 2024 UEFA Euro qualifiers, will provide free live coverage on its network in Vietnam.

The company announced the offer on Wednesday, instructing viewers to utilize its TV360 website and app.

All matches are accessible for free by simply logging into TV360 users’ accounts.

The tournament copyright holder said that TV360 can be streamed without interruptions on various devices such as Smart TVs, mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and TV360 receivers.

The 2024 UEFA Euro qualifying tournament is being played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 member men’s national teams in the Union of European Football Associations that will join the automatically-qualified hosts Germany in the finals, scheduled to take place from June 14 to July 14, 2024.

A total of 53 UEFA member associations were divided into ten groups, with seven groups of five and three groups of six.

The qualifying group stage is being played in a home-and-away, round-robin format on double matchdays in March, June, September, October, and November this year.

The winners and runners-up from the ten groups will qualify directly for the finals.

Following the qualifying group stage, the remaining three teams will be decided through the playoffs, to be held in March 2024. 

Four rounds of qualifiers took place in March and June, with powerhouses like England, France, and Portugal holding the top positions.

Spain, another heavyweight, currently hold the fourth position out of five teams in Group A after one win and one draw. 

The upcoming qualifying matches later this month present Spain with a chance to enhance their performance.

The fifth and sixth rounds of the Euro qualifying stage are scheduled for Thursday to September 13.

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The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with LaLiga, Spain’s top men’s professional football division, on Wednesday morning to collaborate on training coaches and players in a Spanish style until 2026.

Both football bodies have entered into a deal to share their knowledge in order to enhance the growth of professional and community football in Vietnam. 

Furthermore, they will undertake initiatives related to national teams and various sports training projects.

In the near term, LaLiga Academy Vietnam, established in late 2021, will conduct training sessions for VFF coaches and youth football development units.

Football experts assessed that the cooperation holds significant importance for the advancement of Vietnamese football, particularly in the context of the VFF’s efforts to strengthen relationships with established football entities in Asia and Europe.

During the signing ceremony in Hanoi, Ivan Codina, LaLiga’s Southeast Asia-Australia, Japan & South Korea managing director, stated that Vietnam holds a strategic position in Asia for LaLiga, which takes pride in the opportunity to collaborate and grow together with Vietnamese football. 

Codina pledged that LaLiga Academy Vietnam will provide support and apply Spanish coaching methods to Vietnamese coach training programs. 

In addition, they have plans to facilitate the development of young Vietnamese football talents through initiatives like training them in Spain and other cooperative programs.

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