French defender: 'Portugal's victory over Vietnam is within reach'

Defender Morgane Martins believes Portugal have a chance of beating any opponent in Group E of the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Martins is a half-Portuguese, half-French defender who plays for Djon in the French championship, but has never played for any national team. Ahead of the 2023 World Cup, she commented on the chances of France and Portugal in the RFI . "It's their first time participating in the tournament, but Portugal is in the same group as the two finalists from the previous tournament," Martins said. "Getting out of the group stage is a difficult task."

Morgane Martins in the Issy Club shirt in France. Photo: IFC

Portugal are in the same group as defending champions the United States, runners-up the Netherlands and Vietnam - a team also competing for the first time. Martins believes that Portugal can play with a relaxed mentality because they are not candidates for the next round. When assessing the opponent, Martins said: "Vietnam is probably the easiest opponent, and beating them is an easy task. But I believe Portugal can achieve good results against any opponent."

The 2023 Women's World Cup will feature 32 teams for the first time, divided into eight groups of four teams each, following the same format as the 2022 Men's World Cup. Only the top two teams will advance to the round of 16, so the US and the Netherlands are expected to advance. Portugal is ranked 21st in FIFA, while Vietnam is ranked 32nd. Mai Duc Chung's team has never met opponents in the group.

Vietnam had its first training session in New Zealand on July 6. On July 10, the team will play a friendly match with host New Zealand - the opponent currently ranked 26th in FIFA. New Zealand is considered to be on par with Portugal, so this match will help Vietnam somewhat assess the level difference with the teams in the group.

Portugal will also play a friendly match against Ukraine in Porto tonight, July 7, with nearly 30,000 tickets sold. Ukraine is ranked 33rd in FIFA, one place behind Vietnam. After that, Francisco Neto and his team will travel to New Zealand for the World Cup.

Vietnam will play its first match at the 2023 World Cup against the US on July 22, then play Portugal on July 27 and the Netherlands on August 1.

VnExpress.net