A big event of Vietnamese sports in general and women's football team in particular, making the country's fans proud. Proud of the achievement, but looking back at the journey that coach Mai Duc Chung had to go through, it really makes people cry...
Tear
To win tickets to the World Cup, the Vietnamese women's team must be in the Top 4 strongest teams at the 2022 Asian Cup, where the draws bring Huynh Nhu and his teammates to rivals Korea, Japan, and Myanmar. 2 teams from East Asia are really too strong, while Myanmar is always a very difficult opponent to play.
And when the Asian Cup took place from January 20.1 to February 6.2, coach Mai Duc Chung and his students understood that they would have to play away from home while at home, everyone was celebrating the Lunar New Year.
In fact, having to play away from home at such times is not necessarily unfamiliar to the players, so emotional difficulties can be overcome as long as they are still standing side by side and sharing. But, no one can imagine the real hardships that female players have to go through.
To prepare for the tournament, the women's team had a friendly tour in Spain, with the aim of meeting clubs in a developed football background to gain experience. After the friendly match, very shocking information was transmitted that in the opponent's squad there was someone infected with COVID-19. Test results with all members showed initial results, 4 players had positive results.
And the numbers continue to increase day by day. Until the day of leaving for India, coach Mai Duc Chung even had only 4 players ready to practice. At that time, it was only a week before the opening match against the Korean team. Some players still have to stay in Spain because they have not recovered.
The option to bring more players from Vietnam is also thought of, but due to the pandemic, the move is not simple. With a total of 17 players infected with COVID-19, despair may have appeared at that point. But hope is never lost...
Smile
Day by day, the players turn back. On January 19.1 – that is, just 2 days before the opening match, half of the new squad from Spain moved to India and the test results were only announced on the morning of January 21.1, when the match took place in the afternoon of the same day. At the press conference a day before the match, coach Mai Duc Chung was not sure if he had enough squad, so he just promised that if he played, the players would play to the best of their ability for the spirit of Vietnamese women.
In the end, all tested negative to be able to play, but 10 days without training and the physical effects of COVID-19 are clearly not good to play. But, in difficult circumstances, the spirit of resilience, indomitable is shown by the players. Although losing 0-3 to Korea, it is an important premise for the smile of the Vietnamese women's team.
Receiving 3 more goals conceded against the Japanese women's team, the Vietnamese women's team still retains the 3rd place in the rankings, because Myanmar received 8 goals after 2 matches. The decisive clash between the Vietnamese women's team and Myanmar once again confirmed the will of the "golden girls", when two times were surpassed, they equalized twice.
Compared to the third-placed teams with good results, the Vietnamese women's team is one of the two teams (with Thailand) reaching the quarterfinals. Losing to China 3-1, the journey of the Vietnamese women's team turned to the play-off round with Thailand and Taiwan (China). The hard work continued to cling, because despite winning Thailand 2-1, the extra difference was still inferior to Taiwan (China) – winning Thailand 3-2.
Forced to win in a direct confrontation, Chuong Thi Kieu soon opened the scoring, but the opponent equalized at the beginning of the second half. Anxiety came again and only when Bich Thuy scored to make it 2-2 and her teammates staunchly resisted until the final whistle sounded, joy bursting with everyone.
Hunger
After a historic moment in India, the Vietnamese women's team continued their journey through several tournaments. And then, after successfully defending the SEA Games Gold Medal, all realized that, only a short time, the real historic moment will come.
Coach Mai Duc Chung and his players will travel to Australia/New Zealand to officially launch the world-class playground. With the draws leading to the group with the defending champion USA, the defending runner-up Netherlands - also the reigning European Champion, and Portugal, everyone understands, the opportunity for the Vietnamese women's team is not much.
Coach Mai Duc Chung also said the players will come with a spirit of learning, but that doesn't mean they will just treat this as a "tour". Thuy Trang, Huynh Nhu, Hoang Loan, Bich Thuy, Tuyet Dung, Truong Kieu, Hai Yen, Thanh Nha, Hai Linh, Van Su... all have their own aspirations, collective aspirations, and carry the aspirations of the whole country on their shoulders.
In the scorching heat of summer, the golden girls are still practicing hard to prepare the best for the World Cup. With "golden star warriors" who have overcome many challenges, the World Cup will be an introduction to the world about aspirational Vietnam...
Laodong.vn