Coach Mai Duc Chung – the one who inspired the Vietnamese women’s team

Matches with Thai rivals have never been easy. Six times before in the SEA Games, the team drew four times, lost one and won one thanks to extra time. But this time, victory for Vietnam came as inevitable. The bravery, level and method of finishing the opponent of the red shirt girls are at a higher level than Thailand, commensurate with the position of a team that has just won tickets to the World Cup.

But before talking about the feats of female players, let’s take off our hats to their teacher, their “father”. Vietnamese football has been fortunate to have coach Mai Duc Chung, who has associated his name with the most glorious things in women’s football. The third consecutive gold medal won with his students has put him in the position of a legend in the annals of Vietnamese football. Even in the history of regional football, there are very few people who left behind a massive career, associated with a successful two-decade period, like Mr. “.

If you pay attention, you will see very little when Vietnamese players look beyond the touchline to seek direction, even when they are in difficult situations. It seems the players know that the teacher is always there, watching them play, believing in their ability. That invisible but extremely sure connection is the most precious thing that it is difficult to imagine who will do better if one day Mr. Chung is no longer leading.

When back in 2016, coach Mai Duc Chung was 65 years old, had just gone through an unsuccessful period when he was in charge of clubs in the V-League, and Vietnamese women’s football was in the worst stage with two times. lost the ticket to the World Cup to Thailand, empty-handed in two consecutive SEA Games. With a coach full of glory like coach Mai Duc Chung, deciding to continue doing women’s football is his personal courage and the luck of Vietnamese football. There was no such thing as a “safe landing”, Mr. Chung worked hard. A dynasty named Mai Duc Chung was repeated and at this time, Vietnamese women’s football is in the most sublime stage.

Besides the glory at home, another thing worth mentioning is that the women’s team keeps themselves in a top-notch state of play. That’s the way to control the rhythm of the ball, launch “punches” continuously in the first minutes of each round and then when unsuccessful, the defensive organization will not let the opponent counterattack. When needed, the team can push the speed to the highest level, typically a counterattack with only two touches leading to Huynh Nhu’s classy goal. In times of urgency, the squad will be shrinking close to each other, keeping the position to minimize the playing space of Thailand. Although there was only one goal, Vietnam’s game was completely proactive and it could be said that there was no chance to win for Thailand.

That is the huge legacy left by coach Mai Duc Chung: A team with a very high level of thinking and playing. The 31st SEA Games gold medal, even though it is a miracle for the third time in a row, may not be the stop for this team. They are really writing great inspirational stories, both for themselves and for the men’s soccer players – especially with the U23 team also playing another final against Thailand tomorrow.

Song Viet