The Vietnamese women's team will not be complacent against Indonesia; when will the semi-final be a fierce battle?

It's no coincidence that coach Mai Duc Chung believes the Indonesian women's team should not be underestimated in the semi-final at 4 PM tomorrow (December 14th) because some of Indonesia's naturalized players are quite dangerous.

Lessons from the loss to the Philippines

The Vietnamese women's team was given a full day of rest after the group stage. The entire team visited the TNSU Chonburi stadium within the Thai National Sports University campus yesterday afternoon. Before the semi-final match against Indonesia, coach Mai Duc Chung said: "After the victory against Myanmar, I gave the whole team a rest to recover and allow everyone to familiarize themselves with the new stadium. This is completely different from the one used in the SEA Games group stage. Hopefully, we will have a good semi-final match against Indonesia."

The Vietnamese women's team (right) will strive to win the semi-final match.

Photo: Kha Hoa

Coach Mai Duc Chung added: "Don't underestimate Indonesia just because they lost heavily to Thailand in their opening match. Perhaps they weren't fully warmed up in the first game and faced a very strong host nation, so they didn't play well. But in their 3-1 win against Singapore, they played much better. Especially the naturalized players in the Indonesian squad. In the previous two SEA Games, the Indonesian team didn't participate to rebuild and strengthen. This time, their reaching the semi-finals clearly shows their ambition to improve. Therefore, we must be cautious."

According to Mr. Chung, when the vertical axis consists of naturalized players with tall stature and strong physical contact, the Indonesian women's team will certainly play long balls over the line and use high balls. This is something that the Vietnamese women's team should pay close attention to because there are at least 3 naturalized players in the starting lineup: center-back Nahon Emily Julia Frederica (4), midfielder De Zeeuw Felicia Victoria (7) and especially the very quick left winger Warps Isa Guusje (14). This overly "solid" vertical axis makes Indonesia significantly stronger than Singapore, and the surging power in the runs of these players will be a threat to the Vietnamese women's team's goal.

"We must minimize aerial balls and prevent these tall players from occupying space and getting into good positions for deep crosses or set pieces to execute headers. If we can do that, we will be able to control Indonesia's playing style. We must not let the lesson from the loss against the Philippines happen again," Chung emphasized.

Playing with focus from the start, the Vietnamese women's team will win.

The Indonesian women's team has improved, but it's undeniable that the Vietnamese team is still better. What the Vietnamese girls showed in their victory against Myanmar demonstrates that with good focus and a tenacious spirit and will, no matter how difficult the situation, the Vietnamese girls will find a way to overcome it. Of course, the semi-final opponent won't be too strong compared to Myanmar, but don't forget that if they dominate but fail to score, as in the match against the Philippines, then in a knockout match, they still need to be wary of their opponent's fierce defense and the possibility of a penalty shootout.

Key players like Huynh Nhu, Hai Yen, Bich Thuy, Thai Thi Thao, and Van Su all expressed their determination to win the semi-final match in order to aim for defending their gold medal. Having overcome difficulties in the group stage, everyone is confident they won't be held to a draw in 90 minutes. Six years ago at the 2019 SEA Games and the same year's AFF Cup, these key players made their mark by winning convincingly against Indonesia 6-0 and 7-0 respectively. Now that Indonesia is different, player Bich Thuy stated: "Coach Mai Duc Chung has instructed the whole team to be extremely focused and seize every opportunity to settle the match as quickly as possible."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-nu-viet-nam-khong-chu-quan-truoc-indonesia-xem-ban-ket-nay-lua-ngay-nao-18525121222484361.htm