Vietnam Women's Team - U23 Australia (8pm today): A difficult challenge

(Dan Tri) - Facing the U23 women's team of Australia is a difficult task for the Vietnamese women's team, because the opponent comes from the top football country in Asia. However, coach Mai Duc Chung will have a plan to bring the whole team to the final.

*The semi-final match of the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship between the Vietnamese women's football team and U23 Australia will take place at 8:00 p.m. tonight (August 16), at Lach Tray Stadium ( Hai Phong ). Dan Tri will report this match online.

Australia is the only team in this year's tournament that is forced to use its U23 youth squad. If the kangaroo team used its national team to compete with Southeast Asian teams, they would certainly win the championship, because the gap in level between Australian women's football and the rest of Southeast Asia is too great.

The Vietnamese women's team is ready to win a ticket to the final (Photo: Do Minh Quan).

The proof is that the young Australian women’s football team still won a ticket to the semi-finals. They only lost the first match against Myanmar, when the female players from the land of kangaroos were not “warmed up”.

In the second match, when the players' performance was better, U23 Australia defeated the Philippines, creating the premise for them to enter the semi-finals.

The Australian female players have much better physique than the Vietnamese female players. Therefore, the long balls and high balls of U23 Australia will be a big challenge for the defense of the Vietnamese women's football team.

In the final group stage match against Thailand, coach Mai Duc Chung began preparing for the semi-final match against U23 Australia. Mr. Chung arranged midfielder Tran Thi Hai Linh (1m66) to play as a central midfielder, right in the position of Duong Thi Van before.

Body shape is a big advantage of U23 Australia (Photo: VFF).

Then, in the final minutes of the match, coach Mai Duc Chung brought midfielder Luong Thi Thu Thuong (1m68) onto the field in the final minutes to help her "warm up" and prepare for the semi-final match.

Hai Linh and Thu Thuong are players with good physique and good fighting ability, which will help the Vietnamese women's football team increase their one-on-one fighting ability and increase their ability to defend against high balls against U23 Australia.

As for the advantages, the Vietnamese women's team has good technique and better ball control than the young players from the land of kangaroos. The Vietnamese players can take advantage of their agility and dexterity to overcome the slow-moving defense of U23 Australia, we will have the opportunity to penetrate the opponent's net.

"Freak" Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung did not appear in the final group stage match of the Vietnamese women's team against Thailand, perhaps this was Coach Mai Duc Chung's preparation for the semi-final match against U23 Australia.

Mr. Chung wanted to surprise his opponent, wanted Tuyet Dung to be in the best shape, preparing to face the team from the land of kangaroos.

Prediction: Vietnam women's team wins 2-1.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/tuyen-nu-viet-nam-u23-australia-20h-hom-nay-thu-thach-gian-nan-20250815184748294.htm