Women's Football at SEA Games 33: Vietnam advances to the semi-finals as group winners.

On the evening of December 11th, the Vietnamese women's national team secured a place in the semi-finals of the SEA Games 33 women's football tournament after a convincing 2-0 victory over Myanmar. This result puts coach Mai Duc Chung's team at the top of Group B and they will face Indonesia in the semi-finals.

The Vietnamese women's team secured a convincing victory to advance to the semi-finals. (Photo: VFF)

Entering the decisive match, the Vietnamese women's team had to win to secure their own qualification after their previous loss to the Philippines. Meanwhile, Myanmar only needed a draw. Given the importance of the game, both teams proactively increased the tempo right from the opening whistle.

In the 8th minute, Tran Thi Duyen delivered an accurate cross for Ngan Thi Van Su to leap high and head the ball into the net, opening the scoring. Seven minutes later, Vietnam's pressure continued to yield a second goal: Hoang Thi Loan disrupted the Myanmar defense, the ball hit the crossbar, and Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, quicker than everyone else, rushed in and headed the ball in to extend the lead to 2-0.

Conceding two consecutive goals slowed Myanmar down, and they almost lost control for most of the first half. The Vietnamese women's team maintained the initiative and created more opportunities, although they were unable to extend their lead.

In the second half, the Vietnamese team continued to dominate. In the other match played at the same time, the Philippines were far ahead of Malaysia, causing Myanmar to drop to third place. However, they were still unable to turn the tide on the field. In the 81st minute, Vietnam nearly scored a third goal if Ngoc Minh Chuyen had successfully capitalized on a breakaway opportunity to face the opposing goalkeeper.

The match ended with a 2-0 score. The Vietnamese women's team finished the group stage with 6 points and a goal difference of +8, securing first place. The Philippines defeated Malaysia 6-0 but finished second due to a lower goal difference.

Immediately after the match, the President of the Vietnam Football Federation, Tran Quoc Tuan, met with, congratulated, and awarded the team 700 million VND, while also encouraging the entire team to continue focusing on the semi-finals.

According to the schedule, the Vietnamese women's team will face Indonesia at 4 PM on December 14th; the other semi-final match between Thailand and Myanmar will take place at 6:30 PM on the same day.

QUANG MINH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/bong-da-nu-sea-games-33-viet-nam-vao-ban-ket-with-ngoi-nhat-bang-post929638.html