Facing the Chinese women's team, which was superior in class, Coach Mai Duc Chung fielded what could be considered the strongest lineup of the Vietnamese women's team at the moment. But as expected, the Vietnamese girls encountered many difficulties, when having to compete with players with good physique, technique and speed. The home team completely dominated the game, and the ball almost only rolled on the Vietnamese women's team's field in the first half.
Vietnam women's team (right) had a useful training trip
Coach Mai Duc Chung's players played a very focused defense, neutralizing many of the opponents' dangerous moves on goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh's goal. The home team took the initiative and demonstrated a diverse style of play in approaching the Vietnamese women's team's goal, from coordinating in the middle to using high balls. With the advantage in terms of physique, coach Anthony Milicic's team often had high crosses to create opportunities.
The physical limitations of the Vietnamese women's team were clearly revealed when competing with the Chinese women's team. It was very difficult for Vietnamese players to compete for the ball when the opponent pressed them. When the home team maintained a high intensity of attack and continuously applied pressure, the Vietnamese women's team could not keep up because their physical strength had decreased. The proof was that at the end of the first half, the home team accelerated and exploited the space created to score the opening goal, thanks to Zhang Xin (minute 41). Or the second goal also came at the end of the match (minute 90+3), when Thu Thao accidentally scored an own goal after goalkeeper Kim Thanh failed to catch the ball.
It is not surprising that the Vietnamese women's team struggled and lost to the Chinese women's team. The opponent was of a high level, while the Vietnamese players did not have much international competition in 2024, and their physical strength was not really guaranteed when the training and preparation time was quite short.
However, the Vietnamese women's team has also achieved its goal in this tournament. As coach Mai Duc Chung shared earlier: "We determined that this is an international friendly tournament, an opportunity for young players who rarely play for the national team to compete and learn with their seniors. For this tournament, the Vietnamese women's team aims to explore the strength of teams like Uzbekistan, because this is a direct competitor to the Vietnamese women's team in Asia. Meanwhile, the match with the Chinese women's team is an opportunity for Vietnamese players to learn and gain experience. This tournament is a good stepping stone, as Vietnamese women's football currently needs to compete in many international matches to gain experience and learn. The Vietnamese women's team participates in this friendly tournament with the aim of letting the players get used to the high intensity of training and competition to prepare for important tasks in 2025 such as the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship and the 33rd SEA Games".
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-nu-viet-nam-dat-duoc-muc-tieu-tai-trung-quoc-18524102921590925.htm
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