Coach Mai Duc Chung: ‘Sea Games women’s football will be very tough’

The draw on the morning of April 6 put Vietnamese women in Group A with the Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia. Group B has Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Singapore. “This is a fair and fair draw result. It is not Vietnam that hosts, but is favored. I feel very comfortable and comfortable with the above result,” coach Mai Duc Chung said.

The Philippines is considered the most formidable opponent to Vietnam in the group stage. In recent years, they naturalized players and took advantage of overseas Filipino players living abroad to join the army. This policy helps Filipino women finish fourth at the 30th SEA Games, and then win a place in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

According to Mr. Chung, the rise of Philippine women’s football has significantly increased competition in the region. The head coach of Vietnam said: “The Philippines has progressed very quickly in the past few years, as evidenced by the fact that they won tickets to the World Cup. This team naturalized players and invested a lot. In addition, the Cambodian and Singaporean teams also progressed. In general, the women’s teams in Southeast Asia are getting stronger, so this SEA Games will be very tough and fierce.”

The Vietnamese women’s team will compete at Cam Pha Stadium, Quang Ninh. They respectively met Indonesia on May 9, the Philippines on May 11 and Cambodia on May 14 in the group stage. According to Mr. Chung, being able to play at home besides the advantage also puts pressure on Vietnam. He explained: “It is true that we have many advantages, but we will also be under great pressure to perform well in front of the home crowd. After the team wins tickets to the World Cup, expectations for the players will also be high. Therefore, we will have to try to compete effectively. The immediate goal of the Vietnamese women is still to be first in Group A to reach the semi-finals and then the final, trying to get the best results for the fans. “.

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Also today, after the drawing ceremony, Mr. Mai Duc Chung’s teachers and students left for Korea to train. The team will play two matches with the women’s national team of this country and four friendly matches with Korean women’s clubs. After that, the Vietnamese women will return to Quang Ninh to begin the journey to defend the SEA Games gold medal.

“During the recent focus period, the players have improved their physical fitness and are in a very good mental state to prepare for the goals ahead. However, this training trip to Korea is still very important. important, because it is our final preparation step,” added Mr. Chung.

Dong Huyen