“At the end of the match with Portugal, I felt very sad because I tried very hard but just a few unprepared situations caused the team to concede an undeserved goal.

The atmosphere of the whole team was not as happy as after the match with the US women's team. Although the team played with all their might, they still did not follow the head coach's tactics," Hoang Thi Loan admitted that she and her teammates did not play well in the match against Portugal.

Hoang Thi Loan learned many lessons from the loss to Portugal

“In the match against Portugal, I think the players were very eager to score a goal so they were a bit impatient. Attacking and pushing up the formation very early made the Vietnamese women's team leave a gap for the opponent to counterattack.

Each individual as well as the Portuguese team are very strong and fast, so our defenders could not defend, leading to unfortunate goals. Personally, I am not very satisfied because when facing opponents who are fast, strong and have good breakthrough ability, I could not keep up with them," said the center back of Hanoi Club.

After 2 losses, the Vietnamese women's team was eliminated early in the group stage of the 2023 World Cup . Coach Mai Duc Chung and his team will have their final match against the Netherlands on August 1.

Hoang Thi Loan affirmed that the Vietnamese women's team will do their best to get the best result against the current runner-up team: "We will continue to play hard in the final match at the World Cup with the highest fighting spirit. I think the coaching staff will calculate to have a suitable lineup to compete against the Netherlands, aiming for a good result."

Vietnam women's team is determined before the match against the Netherlands

After losing 0-2 to the Portuguese women's team, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team immediately returned to the training ground to fix their mistakes and prepare for the match against the Dutch women's team.

Due to the need to travel from Hamilton to Auckland, instead of the usual morning training session after each match, the coaching staff arranged for the team to practice in the evening. Continuously practicing during this time frame also helps the players adapt better to the cold weather in the evening in New Zealand.