Terry blow means Chelsea defence must 'reorganise'

The news John Terry could be out for six weeks due to the need for exploratory knee surgery means Chelsea will have to reorganise their defence, manager Andre Villas-Boas admits.

Chelsea captain John Terry takes part in a training session at the San Paolo Stadium in Naples on Monday, February 20, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg match against Napoli.

Without Terry the back four the Chelsea defence -- in particular centre-backs David Luiz and Gary Cahill -- was a shambles in the 3-1 second round, first leg defeat to Napoli.

Chelsea will have to try to turn that deficit around at Stamford Bridge in three weeks' time but to have any chance of doing so they would probably need to keep a clean sheet, something which doesn't look likely without Terry.

Defensive midfielder Raul Meireles was at fault for the first goal, right-back Bransilav Ivanovic was out of position for the second and Luiz made a howler for the third.

"We have to focus on reorganising this relationship between this back four that we have recently used," said Villas-Boas, who will find himself increasingly under pressure in the unforgiving English press this week.

"I have to agree that you have to solve the mistakes which you do at the back so you can profit better from the number of opportunities you have and the goals you score.

"We need to get this concentration right and this efficiency right that's for sure.

"Without John we were missing a very important player for the team.

"We have fit players and we have to continue to work with them to get it right.

"The first two Napoli goals we had more numbers and we were more organised and if we can concentrate more we can avoid conceding those."

As for Terry, the Portuguese boss is hoping his absence will be only for a month but admits it will likely be longer.

That means he is set to miss the return leg and a crucial chunk of the season, including their FA Cup fifth round replay away to Birmingham City.

"Four weeks would be excellent, we'll have to wait to see how the operation goes and hope the player can return within that frame of time but normally it's for six weeks," said Villas-Boas.

It means that young Brazilian Luiz, so composed on the ball but often lacking in focus and concentration when performing defensive duties, will continue in the heart of defence.

Villas-Boas insists he has faith in his player, despite the press criticism of his performances.

"That player becomes a target but if you suffer three goals you can (all) do much better," the Chelsea boss said.

"We'll assess the mistakes and try to correct them, he's a fantastic young player, he's got a great future ahead of him and we have to continue to work on him to improve.

The young manager opted for a midfield combination of Meireles and Ramires with the experienced Frank Lampard warming the bench until 20 minutes from time.

England's Ashley Cole was also overlooked at left-back on his return from injury, although he came on after just 12 minutes due to an injury to Jose Bosingwa.

"It's technical decisions, whatever explanation that I give you in the end it would be a fantastic explanation if we win the game," said Villas-Boas in defence.

"Any explanation I give you is useless with regard to the result of the game, there's no point.

"Regarding the formation with the two sitting midfielders we chose tonight was to have two hard working midfielders to sit in front of the defence, not that Lamps can't do it, for sure he can but that's not the decision we took."

As for his own future Villas-Boas was adamant that he will keep going whatever is written about him.

"Speculation will continue as results don't happen but it won't be a distraction."

dtinews.vn

Korean stars to perform in Vietnam

A number of Korean artists will join a concert in Hanoi on March 15 to mark the 20th anniversary of Vietnam-Republic of Korea diplomatic ties.

Among famous bands and artists in the spotlight are scheduled to take part in the event including Super Junior, Sistar, Beast, T-ara, CNBLUE, Davichi, and Secret bands and IU and Trot Park Huyn-bin singers.

The event’s director and KBS staff are in Vietnam to prepare for the programme.

Famous bands and singers

Super Junior

Secret

Beast

Young singer IU

Davichi

Park Huyn-bin

Sistar

dtinews.vn

Football federation selects next national coach

Mai Duc Chung has become the No 1 option for head coach of the national football team.

The Vietnam Football Federation's (VFF) National Coaches Council on Feb. 21 officially made its final decision for the position that had been left empty since last December.

VFF leaders are expected to review their selection for approval on February 27.

In case of approval, Chung, in Brunei with the Under-19 team for the Hassanal Bolkiah Cup at present, will sign a two-year contract when he returns to the country. His salary has not been revealed, but rumour has it that it could be around 120-150 million VND (USD5,700-7,100 ) per month.

Chung would reap benefits if Vietnam could achieve good results at coming tournaments, the first one of which will be the Southeast Asian Football Championship – AFF Cup later this year.

After former coach Falko Goetz was fired, Chung became the favourite candidate for the position. The 61-year-old formerly worked as assistant for many foreign coaches in the past.

In 2008, Chung guided the U22 team to win the Merdeka Cup in Malaysia. He was also acting head coach of the U23 team who defeated Lebanon and Oman during the Beijing Olympic qualifiers in 2007. Chung was appointed head coach of the national women's team in 2003-05 when they won two gold medals at the 22nd and 23rd SEA Games.

The council also drew up an additional list of substitute candidates should Chung not sign the contract with the VFF.

dtinews.vn

Chelsea coaches to train Vietnamese junior footballers

Your coaches from Chelsea Soccer School will run a training course for 180 junior footballers in Ho Chi Minh City.

The course, the first of its kind in Vietnam, aims to improve professional skills for junior footballers selected from schools in the city.

This is part of a cooperation program between the English football club Chelsea and Samsung sponsor to develop the sports and physical training sector for young generations.

The program involves Vietnam, Ghana, Ivory Coast, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

dtinews.vn

Barca on verge of quarters after beating Bayer

Holders Barcelona took a giant step towards the Champions League's quarter-finals with a 3-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen in Tuesday's Round of 16 first-leg tie.

Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (R) is congratulated by his teamate Barcelona's Brazilian defender Daniel Alves (L) after scoring during the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen first leg match Bayer Leverkusen vs FC Barcelona at BayArena in Leverkusen, western Germany. Barca won 3-1.

With the return leg at the Nou Camp on March 7, Barcelona dominated possession in this David versus Goliath clash against a Leverkusen who have now won just one of their last eight games.

For all their super-star status, Barcelona, who lag ten points behind leaders Real Madrid in the Spanish league, stumbled at times and Leverkusen squandered chances to earn a draw.

"I think the second half was good, we used the space better after we took the lead," said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.

"We tried to improve our game, we had a few chances in the first half, but perhaps the final pass was missing.

"But we were playing away and we came into the game after the break."

Nevertheless, Barcelona are in pole-position to reach the last eight after two goals by Chile's Alexis Sanchez and a late strike by Lionel Messi gave them a valuable away win while Leverkusen defender Michal Kadlec grabbed a consolation.

"The defense was good in the first half, but we were lacking a bit of courage," said Leverkusen coach Robin Dutt.

"We gave them too much respect and were a bit anxious.

"It was a completely different story in the second half when we played our part in the game and caused Barcelona some problems."

Barcelona boasted a midfield of World Cup winners Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Cesc Fabregas behind a forward line containing Brazil's Adriano, Sanchez and three-time world footballer of the year Messi.

The injury-enforced absences of midfielder Sidney Sam and Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok were a major blow to the hosts, while ex-Germany captain Michael Ballack was ruled out on Sunday with a calf injury.

On a cold night at the BayArena, the Spaniards took most of the first-half to warm up with Messi showing only rare flashes of skill early on.

With Barcelona enjoying around 80 percent of the possession, it was a matter of time before the hosts' defence cracked.

A through ball from Messi saw Dani Alves and Sanchez sprint head-to-head after the ball and it was the Chilean who arrived first to fire past Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno on 41 minutes.

Barcelona's half-time lead was harsh on the hard-working hosts, but with virtually their first full attack of the game, Leverkusen equalised.

Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Vedran Corluka managed to chip in a cross and Czech Republic defender Kadlec headed home at the back post for a goal which had the 30,000-capacity crowd on their feet on 52 minutes.

Barcelona, however, needed just three minutes to pull ahead again when Sanchez added his second after a ball from Fabregas allowed the Chilean to round Leno and fire home.

Leverkusen came out fighting and Renato Augusto forced Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes into a save moments later, while midfielder Gonzalo Castro hit the post on 64 minutes with Valdes beaten.

Despite a posse of defenders shadowing his every move, Messi hit the post with 72 minutes gone, but at the other end striker Stefan Kiessling came on with 15 minutes left and headed at Valdes with his first touch of the game.

Messi saved the best for last when he finished a great cross from Alves for the third on 88 minutes.

dtinews.vn

Doctor fears STDs, abortions after Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is not a happy one for ob-gyn doctors as the romantic night often leads to surging demands for abortion and STD examinations, a Hanoi doctor said.

Ob-gyn hospitals and clinics say they receive a high number of women with unexpected pregnancy in the weeks following big holidays like the New Year's, Christmas, and especially Valentine’s Day.

Meanwhile, many men come for examinations anxious about sexually transmitted diseases because they didn't have lovers and slept with prostitutes instead, said the doctor from the capital.

A Monday report on news website VnExpress said that many hotels and guest houses run out of rooms on the night of Valentine's day.

Doctors said the worrying thing is that few of the couples, especially unmarried ones, are using birth control measures.

“A month after the Valentine, the number of women coming to my clinic, as well as others, always surges, or even doubles,” said Le Thi Kim Dung, an ob-gyn doctor at the Labor Health Center in Hanoi.

“I don’t pass judgment on people having sex because it’s a physical need," she said. "But the problem is that young people have to be aware of what they do, of the consequences, so that they can take preventive measures.”

Dung said one of the simple measures to prevent unexpected pregnancy and STDs is using condoms, but many young people chose not to. Many say they forgot, or were afraid that their partners would resist because using a prophylactic reduces the pleasure of sex.

A recent national survey on Vietnam’s teenagers and young people showed that 95 percent of the respondents know about condoms but were unwilling to use them, the report said.

“Another reason is some people believe their partners are healthy," Dung said. "But once you are having unprotected sex, it means you are completely at risk of having an unexpected pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases."

The doctor said STD infection rates can be very high. 25 percent of men and 50 percent of women become infected after just one unprotected sexual encounter with an infected partner.

She said people cannot know if someone has an STD or not just by looking, adding that around 70 percent of women and 50 percent of men infected with Chlamydia bacterium show no symptoms.

“There are people with good immune systems that do not show symptoms but can still transmit the diseases.”

Taking preventive measures is easier than having to come to a clinic to cure a disease or have an abortion afterwards, Dung said.

She suggested people bring condoms whenever they go out or on a vacation, even when they do not plan to have sex.

Thanh Nien News

Vietnamese models to attend New York Fashion Week

Photo by Milor Tran. Tuyet Lan (L) and Hoang Thuy(R) will attend in New York Fashion Week 2012 with model Ngoc Thach.

Hoang Thuy, Tuyet Lan and Ngoc Thach will be the first three trailblazing Vietnamese models to catwalk New York Fashion Week 2012 February 13 – 19.

This is the first time Vietnamese models will appear at the event, which takes place twice a year in Manhattan's Bryant Park and features famous designers showing off their latest collections for the upcoming season.

The promising models will showcase the work of noted designers Korto Momolu and Laurel DeWitt.

Hoang Thuy shot to fame when she won Vietnam's Next Top Model’s on January 8 in a special show featuring the attendance of supermodel Tyra Banks.

Tuyet Lan was the runner-up of Vietnam Next Top Model’s first season in 2010 and won the Asian Model Search 2011 contest in Singapore last year.

Ngoc Thach won the Vietnam Supermodel contest in 2010.

New York Fashion Week is hosted by the Council of Fashion Designer of America (CFDA) and is one of the top four global fashion weeks, together with the same events in London, Paris and Milan.

The event features celebrities, models, designers and the press partying and previewing clothes for the spring collection in September and winter collection in February.

Thanh Nien News