Brazilian forward released from v league club after disappointing performance vnexpress international

Barros used to play for several clubs in Brazil before moving to J1 League and signing with Kofu in 2017. After Kofu dropped to J2 League in 2018, he continued to play there until his contract with the club expired in February this year. During his spell at Kofu, he scored 17 goals. Only a short time later, Barros joined HCMC as a free agent. He is valued by German football site Transfermarkt at €300,000 ($364,555).

Junior Barros in a HCMC FC jersey. Photo courtesy of HCMC FC.

The 27-year-old, 1.83-meter-tall forward is expected to form a Brazilian attack trio with HCMC’s previous new signings, Joao Paulo and Dário.

The arrival of Barros means HCMC would have to exclude one foreign player from the squad as V. League only allows each club to register a maximum three foreigners. Accordingly, Senegalese Papé Diakité will not appear for HCMC during the first leg of V. League 2021. However, HCMC will keep him at the club as a back-up for the second leg, in case another foreign player in the squad loses form.

HCMC showed great ambition this season by setting the goal of becoming V. League champions. The Red Battle Ship, who finished fifth last season, have made major moves by signing Brazilian coach Alexander Polking from Thai League, three new Brazilian forwards and Vietnamese-American midfielder Lee Nguyen from the U.S.

AFP

The first leg of Arsenal’s tie against Benfica, which was due to be played at the Estadio Da Luz on Feb. 18, has been moved to Rome while the second leg will be played in Athens at Olympiakos Piraeus’ ground a week later. Spurs said their first leg away to Austrian side Wolfsberger will now take place in Budapest, Hungary next week.

* Double Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso said he was well and looking forward to the start of the season after fracturing his jaw in a road accident while cycling in Switzerland. The Spaniard’s Alpine (Renault) team said he will remain under observation for 48 hours after an operation on Friday (Feb 12) and expected him “to be fully operational to undertake preparation for the season”.

* Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone believes his side’s sensational La Liga form will be tough to maintain in the second half of the season. Leaders Atleti are on course for a 100-point season after picking up 51 points from their opening 20 games of the campaign, losing just once and shipping only 12 goals as they raced away at the top of the table.

* Krasnodar have been fined 15,000 euros (US$18,187) for a late kickoff in their Champions League group match at Chelsea in December, UEFA said in a statement on Friday.

* Argentina’s Hernan Crespo signed a two-year contract to coach Sao Paulo on Friday, giving a late boost to their faltering league title hopes, the Brazilian club announced.

* Manchester United need their midfielders to score more goals and Scott McTominay has the characteristics to get into double figures despite being deployed as a defensive midfielder, manager ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Friday. McTominay, 24, has scored seven times in all competitions this season, including in United’s last three fixtures with Tuesday’s extra-time winner against West Ham United sending them through to an FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester City.

* Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel would love to bring more academy players into the first team squad after some of the youngsters helped the club progress in the FA Cup, he said on Friday. Billy Gilmour, Reece James and Tammy Abraham combined for the latter’s goal against Barnsley while Callum Hudson-Odoi was also one of the brighter sparks in Thursday’s 1-0 victory that set up a quarter-final tie at home to Sheffield United.

* England’s rugby Premiership will not feature relegation this year and will increase to 13 clubs next season to accommodate the winners of the second-tier Championship, the Rugby Football Union said on Friday.

* Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said they will guard against complacency following a 15-match unbeaten run in all competitions ahead of a testing schedule where they face Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Arsenal. Guardiola’s City are top of the Premier League with 50 points after 22 games, five points clear of rivals Manchester United who have played a game more.

* Defending champion Novak Djokovic faces a fitness battle to continue in the Australian Open after suffering what he described as a “muscle tear” during a five-set win over Taylor Fritz on Friday. The 33-year-old, seeking a record-extending ninth title in Melbourne, was cruising after winning the opening two sets of his third-round clash but a slip at 1-1 in the third set almost derailed his progress.

* Paris St Germain forward Neymar’s latest injury can be blamed on a hectic match schedule and the COVID-19 crisis, coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Friday. Neymar has been ruled out for four weeks with a groin injury, meaning he will miss the first leg of PSG’s Champions League last-16 tie at his former club Barcelona on Tuesday.

* Liverpool have suffered another defensive injury as manager Juergen Klopp confirmed makeshift centre back Fabinho would miss Saturday’s Premier League clash at Leicester City with a muscle problem.

* Dominic Thiem produced a comeback for the ages to overhaul a fired-up Nick Kyrgios in a five-set classic at the Australian Open on Friday and send a baying crowd home in disappointment on the last night before a five-day lockdown in Melbourne. In the bearpit atmosphere of Kyrgios’s favourite John Cain Arena, US Open champion Thiem dragged himself off the canvas in a thrilling 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over the Australian showman to reach the fourth round.

* Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and midfielder Ilkay Gundogan have been named Premier League Manager and Player of the Month respectively for January, the league said on Friday.

* Australia’s second-most populous city will enter a five-day snap coronavirus lockdown, authorities said on Friday, banning spectators for much of the Australian Open tennis tournament.

* Second seed Simon Halep eased past Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-1 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open for the fourth straight year on Friday. Up next is a last-16 encounter with the winner of Fiona Ferro’s later match against Iga Swiatek, the Polish teenager who downed Halep 6-1 6-2 at the same stage of last year’s French Open on her way to her maiden Grand Slam title.

* World number one Ash Barty withdrew from the Australian Open doubles on Friday, raising concerns over her fitness for the singles as she manages a thigh strain.

The country had an overall score of 5.67 out of 10 in the 2021 Emerging Markets Logistics Index released by leading logistics company Agility.

The firm ranked 50 economies based on three factors that make them attractive to logistics providers, freight forwarders, shipping lines, air cargo carriers, and distributors: domestic logistics opportunities, international logistics opportunities and business fundamentals.

Vietnam performed well in international opportunities, ranking fourth globally. It was 18th in domestic logistics opportunities and 21st in business fundamentals, which include regulatory environment, credit and debt dynamics, contract enforcement, anti-corruption safeguards, price stability, and market access.

“Vietnam has made strides as a manufacturing destination as a small number of companies has looked to ease dependence on Chinese production as a result of U.S.-China trade friction, rising costs and the Covid-19 crisis,” the report said.

Vietnam’s climb by three places to eighth demonstrates it effectively contained the spread of the virus, positioned itself deftly to absorb manufacturers seeking to leave China and possesses an enviable investment pipeline across a number of sectors, including fashion and electronics, which could see its rise continue in 2022, the report said.

China remained the world’s leading emerging logistics market followed by India. Indonesia (3rd) and Malaysia (5th) were Southeast Asian countries that did better than Vietnam in the ranking.

According to the Vietnam Logistics Business Association’s latest survey, there are around 30,000 logistics companies in the country, 4,000 of them foreign-owned.

The industry has been growing at 12-14 percent annually and is now worth $40-42 billion.

The 28-year-old Brazilian has been on the fringes of the Everton squad this season, but settled a see-saw tie with a powerful left-footed strike in the 97th minute. It meant Tottenham’s wait for a first FA Cup triumph since 1991 goes on, but kept alive Everton’s hopes of winning the trophy for the first time since 1995.

* Yamaha MotoGP rider Fabio Quartararo revealed on Wednesday he had contracted COVID-19 last December but said he was now back in peak condition.

* Holders Paris St Germain reached the last 32 of the French Cup with a 1-0 win at Ligue 2 side Caen on Wednesday but striker Neymar suffered a possible groin injury six days before their Champions League last-16 first leg against Barcelona. Moise Kean scored the only goal early in the second half before Neymar limped off the pitch just after the hour, raising concerns about his participation in the clash against his former club at the Camp Nou.

* Sevilla defender Jules Kounde scored an extraordinary solo goal and Ivan Rakitic struck against his old side in a 2-0 win over Barcelona in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Wednesday. Athletic Bilbao host Levante on Thursday in the first leg of the other semi-final.

* Danish forward Pernille Harder struck twice early in the second half to set Chelsea on their way to a 3-0 win over Arsenal on Wednesday that sends them three points clear at the top of the FA Women’s Super League with eight games left to play.

* Kelechi Iheanacho struck deep into stoppage time to send Leicester City into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday. Leicester were joined in the last eight by the Premier League’s bottom club Sheffield United who beat Championship side Bristol City 1-0.

* Manchester City secured a record 15th straight victory in all competitions with a 3-1 win at Championship side Swansea City in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday. The victory run is a record for a top-flight team, surpassing the 14 successive wins achieved by Preston in 1892 and Arsenal in 1987.

* Raymond Domenech has been sacked as Nantes coach after six weeks in charge following a string of poor results, French media reported on Wednesday. The former France coach, who was back in a club coaching role for the first time in 27 years, was named as Christian Gourcuff’s replacement on Dec. 27. He will be replaced by Antoine Kombouare, French sports daily L’Equipe reported.

* Former Manchester City and Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure has been named assistant manager of Olimpik Donetsk, the Ukrainian Premier League club said on Wednesday. The 37-year-old former Ivory Coast international worked with English sides Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers to gain his coaching badges after ending his playing career at Chinese club Qingdao Huanghai last year.

* Bayern Munich will face Mexican club Tigres UANL in Thursday’s Club World Cup final without experienced central defender Jerome Boateng, coach Hansi Flick said on Wednesday. The 2014 World Cup winner will return home for personal reasons, following news reports from Germany of the death of a former partner.

* Real Madrid left back Marcelo has been ruled out for around three weeks with a calf injury, leaving Zinedine Zidane’s side with six injured defenders including four full backs. Marcelo got a rare start in Tuesday’s 2-0 win at home to Getafe which took Real second in the standings and within five points of leaders Atletico Madrid. He produced one of his best performances before hobbling off late in the game.

* Nick Kyrgios fed off a febrile atmosphere to save two match points on his way to a 5-7 6-4 3-6 7-6(2) 6-4 comeback victory over Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

* German sixth seed Alexander Zverev put in a clinical display to ease past American qualifier Maxime Cressy 7-5 6-4 6-3 into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday. Zverev will set up a meeting with 32nd-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who earlier defeated Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-1 6-2 6-4.

* Romanian second seed Simona Halep won five consecutive games to come back from the brink to defeat local hope Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6 6-4 7-5 in an error-strewn match to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

* Atletico Madrid will play Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in Bucharest due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in Spain that prevent the English side from entering the country, UEFA said on Wednesday. The match will kick off at the National Arena in the Romanian capital at the scheduled time of 2000 GMT on Feb. 23.

* Naomi Osaka dreamt that she would lose her second round match at the Australian Open but the reality was a comfortable 6-2 6-3 victory over Caroline Garcia on Wednesday.

* Venus Williams refused to give up after suffering an injury against Italian Sara Errani and fought through pain before bowing out of the Australian Open second round with a 6-1 6-0 defeat on Wednesday.

* Novak Djokovic’s aura of invincibility at Rod Laver Arena wavered under the pressure of Frances Tiafoe but the Serbian rose to the challenge to claim a galvanising 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 6-3 win and reach the third round of the Australian Open.