Vietnam women's team must know how to seize opportunities, when will they meet Indonesia?

The 6-0 victory over Cambodia in the opening match last night, August 6, helped the Vietnamese women's team get off to a smooth start at the AFF Cup 2025.

SUPERIOR POWER

The match against the Cambodian women's team in the opening match of Group A of the 2025 AFF Cup last night was considered a light practice for the Vietnamese women's team on their journey to conquer the 2025 AFF Cup. Although the Cambodian women's team pursues a controlled playing style, has a relatively clear philosophy and a number of players with good physique, they are still many levels behind the Vietnamese women's team in terms of class.

Vietnam women's team won 6-0 against Cambodia - Photo: MINH TU

90 minutes at Lach Tray Stadium has defined the difficult-to-erase class line in the near future between the Vietnamese women's team and most Southeast Asian teams. Despite playing cautiously, only choosing a few moments to accelerate and pressure the opponent, Coach Mai Duc Chung's students still easily led 4-0 after only... 14 minutes with attacks from many scenarios, such as set pieces, long shots, and sideline shots.

The midfield, which is the focus of the playing style that coach Mai Duc Chung has worked hard to shape, has become the "explosive point" with the passing, controlling and deploying the ball in harmony. Facing an opponent determined to "pour concrete" with a large number of defenders, the coaching staff of the Vietnamese women's team has chosen to attack the wings (where there are fast runners like Tran Thi Duyen and Ngan Thi Van Su) to stretch the opponent's formation, opening up space for the midfielders to finish the second line.

Bich Thuy is the best player of the match.

The beautiful long-range shots of Van Su and Nguyen Thi Van, the free kick that hit the crossbar of Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy leading to the header goal of a player only 1.53 m tall like Duong Thi Van... showed the careful preparation process in terms of tactics and personnel of the Vietnamese women's team. With a squad that has fought together in many major tournaments at the continental and even world level, the Vietnamese women's team has mastered the intensity of play and coordination to the point of being able to "swallow" weaker opponents. Putting the main striker Huynh Nhu on the field in the second half even though the game was already decided showed that the Vietnamese women's team wanted to win big to compete with Thailand for goal difference. However, in this half, the Vietnamese girls only scored 2 more goals, while many opportunities were missed, making coach Mai Duc Chung not satisfied.

This shows that the players need to take advantage of opportunities more, instead of being hasty and insensitive as they did in the last 20 minutes of the second half. However, the Vietnamese women's team kept their key players, saving their "secret weapon" for the important matches ahead. After the opening round, the Vietnamese women's team ranked second in the group with 3 points and a goal difference of +6, while Thailand had 3 points and a goal difference of +7.

CONTINUE TO WIN BIG INDONESIA women's team?

The Indonesian women's team lost 0-7 to Thailand in the opening match of the 2025 AFF Cup. Despite the addition of naturalized players, the Indonesian women's team is still weak in terms of technique and tactics, so they cannot compete with leading forces such as Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines or Australia in Southeast Asia.

With a smooth start, the Vietnamese women's team (red shirts) will meet Indonesia on August 9.

Therefore, the match against Indonesia at 7:30 p.m. on August 9 could continue to be a demonstration of strength for Huynh Nhu and her teammates. Not only winning, the Vietnamese women's team needs to continue to win big to compete for goal difference, creating an advantage before the final match for the top spot in the group with Thailand. This will be a necessary practice for the attack line, where the strikers, despite pouring in goals on the opening day, still need to be more alert and careful in finishing.

As for the Vietnamese defense, facing Indonesia's physically strong attack is an interesting test, because if they reach the AFF Cup semi-finals, the Vietnamese women's team will likely compete with Australia or the Philippines, the two tallest women's teams in Asia today. In the past, the Vietnamese women's team was at a disadvantage against tall and competitive opponents, because technique and tactics did not always help coach Mai Duc Chung and his team solve the match. Many players have recounted the feeling of being "overwhelmed" when facing opponents a head taller than them, having to continuously play under suffocating pressure. This is a psychological knot that, through each match, the Vietnamese women's team must find a way to overcome.

In recent days, Coach Mai Duc Chung has had his players practice physical strength with high frequency, continuously training their shoulder-to-shoulder and one-on-one skills. The passion and toughness in pressing phases need to be demonstrated well by the Vietnamese women's team in the match against Indonesia, then upgraded to stand firm against stronger opponents waiting in the next round.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-nu-viet-nam-can-biet-chat-chiu-co-hoi-gap-indonesia-ngay-nao-185250806230316384.htm