Coach Mai Duc Chung highly appreciates opponent Australia before the Semi-finals of the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship

On the morning of August 15, a press conference took place in Hai Phong before the semi-final matches of the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship.

Tomorrow (August 16), the semi-finals of the 2025 AFF Women's Championship will take place. In the semi-finals of the 2025 AFF Women's Championship, Myanmar will face Thailand at 4:00 p.m., while Vietnam will face Australia at 8:00 p.m.

Speaking at a press conference before the match, head coach of the Vietnam Women's Team Mai Duc Chung commented: "The two teams have equal strength. Australia is young, strong and adapts quickly. Even though we have the advantage of having one more day off, that is only in theory. We have prepared carefully and are determined to play our best. Hopefully, fans will come to the stadium to cheer us on."

Coach Mai Duc Chung and Coach Joseph Palatsides answer press conference before the Semi-final match

After the victory over the Thai team in the final match of the group stage, the coach from Hanoi expressed his hope that the Vietnamese women's team will receive support from the audience in Hai Phong in particular and across the country in general.

"This is an important motivation for the team to play well in the group stage. The Vietnamese women's team hopes that the audience will continue to come to the stadium to support the women's team in the semi-finals, creating strength from the stands for the team to complete the task of passing the semi-finals to the finals. The atmosphere on the field in the past matches, in the group stage, at Lach Tray reminded me of the image in 2003, also here, the stands were covered in red and created spiritual motivation for the women's team to win the SEA Games gold medal and now we also hope that this will continue to happen" - Coach Mai Duc Chung said.

For her part, Huynh Nhu also expressed her desire to play in front of a vibrant atmosphere. The captain of the Vietnam Women's Team affirmed that the encouragement from the audience will be a great motivation for the whole team to be confident and play their best.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the front line, Coach Joseph Palatsides of the Australian Women's Team said that the match against Vietnam will be very difficult: "We know we will face a strong team led by a good coach. After a difficult start, the team has improved through each match thanks to their spirit and desire to win. This is a valuable opportunity for the players."

In the remaining match between Myanmar and Thailand, coach Uki Tetsuro of the Myanmar Women's Team highly appreciated the quality of the tournament and the opponents. He affirmed that the teams participating in the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Tournament are all quality opponents.

"We are satisfied with that. In the next match, the team only has two days to recover compared to Thailand, so we will focus on recovering our physical strength before preparing tactics. I thank the players, the coaching staff and the fans for always supporting us," said coach Uki Tetsuro.

Meanwhile, coach Futoshi Ikeda of the Thai women's team shared his excitement when facing Myanmar: "We are happy to be in the semi-finals and clearly see the progress of the players. Although we lost to Vietnam in the group stage, we have prepared well and are more confident for the next match. Whether we meet Vietnam or Australia, Thailand wants to be ready."

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/hlv-mai-duc-chung-danh-gia-cao-doi-thu-australia-truoc-them-ban-ket-giai-bong-da-nu-dong-nam-a-2025-20250815141510235.htm