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When asked if the young, inexperienced players were the reason why the Vietnamese U20 women's team conceded two goals to the Iranian U20 women's team, coach Akira Ijiri defended his players.
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| Coach Akira Ijiri speaks out in defense of the Vietnamese U20 women's national team. PHOTO: MINH HOANG |
The Vietnam U20 women's team defeated Iran U20 3-2 to secure their first three points of the season. Despite the victory, the home team made mistakes, resulting in two goals conceded. In response to suggestions that the second goal was due to the inexperience of the young players, coach Akira Ijiri refuted these claims.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, the Japanese strategist said: “When the team was leading 3-1, I brought on the young players. However, the fact that these players lacked practical experience was not the reason why we conceded a goal.”
In the last match, we achieved our initial goal of winning. As for whether I'm satisfied or not, I've already said that. I'm never satisfied because if I were, the players would stagnate and stop developing. We have two more matches, and the two upcoming opponents are very difficult to assess. I watched their matches and saw that they played very well. I'm currently developing strategies to prepare for the remaining two matches.”
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The Vietnam U20 women's team had a favorable start in the second round of the 2024 AFC U20 Women's Championship qualifiers. PHOTO: MINH HOANG |
For her part, coach Maryam Jahaneiati expressed satisfaction with her players' performance, even though the Iranian U20 women's team couldn't achieve their goal of earning points against the Vietnamese U20 women's team. She shared: “The Iranian U20 women's team took the lead, but today there were many spectators cheering for the Vietnamese U20 women's team, so the Iranian players were somewhat affected psychologically. We couldn't spring a surprise; we hoped for a draw to get one point against the Vietnamese U20 women's team, but we couldn't. The reason is that our players lack experience and haven't played many international matches recently. Furthermore, the weather affected the players' physical condition to some extent. However, we are grateful to the Vietnamese U20 women's team and we had a beautiful game to offer the audience. The Iranian players need to be more confident and improve their finishing.”
The remaining two matches will be a tough journey for the Iranian U20 women's team. The Australian U20 women's team is too strong, but we won't give up; we will strive for the best possible result. We have a plan to deal with Australia.”
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