The Vietnamese women's team still has a final goal in the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship. The bronze medal cannot be as prestigious as the championship, but it is enough to recognize the fighting spirit of effort and not giving up of Huynh Nhu and her teammates.
Fortunately, the Vietnam women's team will face Thailand - a familiar opponent in the group stage.
In general, the Vietnam women's team has had a convincing performance up to this point. After a complete win in the group stage and not conceding a goal, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team entered the semi-finals against Australia. The two quick goals came from a moment of somewhat lack of concentration and physical losses of the Vietnam women's team.
But overall, the Vietnam women's team still brought many bright spots in the way they deployed the ball to attack and the competitive spirit. When his physical strength was no longer guaranteed at high intensity, Huynh Nhu gradually retreated deep into her home field to do the assist-making task. However, the striker born in 1991 is also further away from the goal.
When Huynh Nhu was able to approach the penalty area, the opposing defender was defensive and she was having a hard time creating a big breakthrough. Meanwhile, wingers like Bich Thuy and Ngan Thi Van Su showed good individual technique and explosive speed.
In the match against Australia, Bich Thuy's unbelievable dribble when the clock struck the 87th minute brought hope for a comeback of the Vietnam women's team.
But then, the finishing problem still gave coach Mai Duc Chung a headache. Against a strong opponent like Australia, the Vietnam women's team wasted many scoring opportunities created in the penalty area. Fans thought that Bich Thuy and Hai Linh would be a little more meticulous, the equalizer 2-2 may have arrived.
Returning to the confrontation with Thailand, the Vietnam women's team is certainly rated higher than the opponent. With the determination to change the blood of the force and build a squad for the future, Thailand brought a young squad to the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship. They are not bad but are still inexperienced, easily overwhelmed by big teams.
In the group stage, the Vietnam women's team had no difficulty controlling the game on the field. Thailand could only retreat deep to defend and cluster to protect the goal. Vietnam's 1-0 victory was somewhat modest compared to what coach Mai Duc Chung's students could have done.
In this rematch, it is likely that the Hanoian coach will adjust the formation to be more attacking. In addition to Huynh Nhu still playing the main striker role, My Anh can play left-back and provide an effective cross-ball solution, Thu Thao will appear on the familiar right wing to replace Tran Thi Duyen.
In midfield, Tran Thi Hai Linh and Nguyen Thi Van deserved to be given opportunities after their performances. Hai Linh showed his strength, supporting the defense and Nguyen Thi Van provided many soft passes.
The option named Pham Hai Yen is ready to enter the field in the second half to increase the attack. The striker of Hanoi club always creates highlights thanks to his impressive aerial ability, his playing style is based on strength and will be effective in the final minutes.
Coach Mai Duc Chung shared after losing to Australia in the semi-finals: "The upcoming third-place match will definitely require even higher determination. We have not done as expected in this semi-final, so the whole team will try our best to bring the best performance.
Vietnam and Thailand have known each other very well, so being close and entering the game well from the start will be the key. If we can do that, we can completely win."
With the support of fans at Lach Tray Stadium, the Vietnamese women's team certainly wants to win with a big difference.
The third-place match of the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship between the Vietnamese and Thai women's teams will take place at 4:30 p.m. on August 19.
