Vietnam women's team leaves mark of a young generation

With a youthful squad, the Vietnamese women's team still easily defeated Malaysia 7-0 in the opening match of Group B of the 33rd SEA Games women's football event, which took place on the evening of December 5 in Chonburi (Thailand).

The joy of victory of Vietnamese female players - Photo: NAM TRAN

Facing a much weaker Malaysia, coach Mai Duc Chung boldly left half of the official squad of the Vietnamese women's team outside. Instead, he put on the field 8 players aged 24-25, a youthful squad rarely seen in the past few years of the Vietnamese women's team. The three older players who started were goalkeeper Khong Thi Hang (32 years old), midfielder Bich Thuy and striker Hai Yen (31 years old).

The young Vietnamese players all performed very well to help the Vietnamese women's team lead Malaysia 4-0 in the first half. Right-back Nguyen Thi Hoa assisted Hai Yen to open the scoring in the 4th minute.

Not only did he pass to Bich Thuy to score, raising the score to 2-0, central midfielder Hai Linh also shot the ball from outside the penalty area to score a beautiful goal, raising the score to 4-0. Before that, left-back Van Su passed accurately to Hai Yen to head the ball, raising the score to 3-0.

In the second half, coach Mai Duc Chung made a series of substitutions. The presence of key midfielder Thai Thi Thao at the beginning of the second half further weakened Malaysia's strength. The 30-year-old player scored a hat-trick, including two spectacular goals, to help the Vietnamese women's team win 7-0.

In the remaining match of Group B, the Philippine women's team, with a squad of naturalized players playing abroad, was still defeated by Myanmar 2-1. Tall but clumsy, the Philippine defense allowed captain Win Theingi Tun to seize the opportunity to score in the first half.

Playing better in the second half, the Philippines equalized 1-1 in the 69th minute, and even almost increased the score to 2-1 in the 75th minute if midfielder Alexa Pino had not missed the ball in front of an open goal.

Despite their high hopes for a goal, the Philippine women's team paid the price in the 89th minute. There was no female player from the Philippines to mark the situation when May Htet received a pass from her teammate on the right wing and headed past goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel.

The defeat against main rival Myanmar forced the Philippines to defeat the Vietnamese women's team in the second match on December 8 to keep their hopes of advancing alive.

Despite having a big advantage after a big win against Malaysia, the Vietnamese women's team cannot be complacent against the Philippines, because the opponent's tall physique always causes many difficulties for the Vietnamese girls.

More importantly, in the last two confrontations, the Philippines defeated the Vietnamese women's team to gain some confidence. However, with the youth of a new generation of players, coach Mai Duc Chung will make changes in the upcoming confrontation, thereby securing a ticket to the semi-finals.

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NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-nu-viet-nam-ghi-dau-an-cua-mot-the-he-tre-20251206101502321.htm