Indonesian U21 women's volleyball coach explains why they lost to Vietnam at the World Cup

Coach Marcos Sugiyama pointed out the reason for the defeat of the Indonesian U21 women's volleyball team against the Vietnamese U21 team.

U21 Vietnam won a historic victory over U21 Indonesia at the World Championship - Photo: VFV

The ambition of U21 Indonesia did not come true when they lost to U21 Vietnam in the opening match of the 2025 U21 Women's Volleyball World Championship.

Head coach Marcos Sugiyama said that inexperience and psychological pressure were the main reasons for this defeat. Accordingly, the tournament's host team had to accept a 0-3 defeat (15-25, 16-25, 18-25) against the U21 women's volleyball team of Vietnam.

After the match, coach Marcos Sugiyama admitted that his players could not overcome the pressure. "It is clear that experience is extremely important in a big tournament. The players showed tension and could not overcome the pressure," said the Japanese coach.

Mr. Sugiyama also pointed out the big difference between friendly matches and a world-class tournament. Although there were positive results in the pre-tournament test matches, when entering the official match, the athletes were under pressure and made many mistakes.

Despite the defeat in the opening match, coach Sugiyama is still optimistic about the remaining matches in Group A. In this group, they will have to face opponents that are rated higher in both technique and physicality such as Serbia, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Canada.

"Now, the players must compete with a relaxed spirit, without any burden. Although we are the home team, we are underrated. And that must be an advantage for the players to be able to compete comfortably in the remaining matches," Mr. Sugiyama emphasized.

Bola newspaper said the U21 Indonesia coaching staff will focus on restoring the physical and especially mental health of the players with the goal of regaining fighting spirit for the upcoming matches.

According to the schedule, the Indonesian U21 women's volleyball team will face Canada on August 8. Next are matches against Puerto Rico (August 9), Serbia (August 11) and Argentina (August 12).

THANH DINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hlv-bong-chuyen-nu-u21-indonesia-giai-thich-ly-do-thua-viet-nam-o-giai-the-gioi-20250808080321853.htm