In the SEA Games women's football category, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team are the current champions with a series of 4 consecutive titles. Huynh Nhu and her teammates' mission this year is to defend their title, extending their streak of achievements against candidates Philippines, Myanmar and host Thailand.
In Vietnam's group B, the presence of strong opponents such as the Philippines and Myanmar makes the overall situation predicted to be very tense. Even a surprise happened in the opening match when Myanmar defeated the Philippines 2-1, pushing the race for the top spot to a climax, truly unpredictable.
With a resounding 7-0 victory in the opening match against Malaysia, the Vietnamese women's team is in high spirits to continue asserting its position, with the immediate race for the number 1 position in Group B. Not only 3 points, the Vietnamese team also has to beat the Philippines by a large margin to prevent the case of having to compete on goal difference with the two remaining heavyweights in the group, Myanmar and the Philippines.
Vietnam women's team prepares best for the match against Philippines. Photo: NGOC LINH
Currently, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team have the same number of points but are ranked above Myanmar thanks to the extra goal difference. The Vietnamese women's team needs another win to secure a place in the semi-finals. That's the theory, but in reality, the goal of Huynh Nhu and her teammates is not simple.
The Philippines has an experienced squad, with many naturalized players who participated in the 2023 Women's World Cup. Therefore, the defeat in the opening match may just be a temporary "misstep" for them. That defeat forced the Philippines into a position where they had to find 3 points when facing the Vietnamese team.
For coach Mai Duc Chung and his team, the goal is also to win, but a draw is not too bad. With at least 1 point, the Vietnamese women's team will have a big advantage in calculating for the decisive match against Myanmar in the final round.
The history of confrontation is leaning towards the Philippines when the Vietnamese team lost both of their last two encounters. That shows that the quality of the European and American naturalized players on the opponent side really caused many difficulties for Huynh Nhu and her teammates. However, seeing how Myanmar restrained the Philippines in the opening match, the Vietnamese team learned a valuable lesson.
If they know how to take advantage, the Vietnamese women's team can completely come up with a suitable countermeasure by deploying a reasonable and tactical play style. In the big win on the opening day against Malaysia, coach Mai Duc Chung proactively calculated the personnel by giving many young players the opportunity to play, while "keeping" both pillars Kim Thanh and Huynh Nhu for the important match against the Philippines.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/tuyen-nu-viet-nam-quyet-tam-vuot-qua-philippines-vao-ban-ket-19625120723044665.htm
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