Football is one of the starting sports when the 33rd SEA Games has not yet opened, so when the regional sports festival has just officially started its second day, some teams have to return home, some teams have to win tickets to continue and some teams are in a situation where they have to compete fiercely in the final round of the group stage. The two U22 Vietnam teams and the Vietnam women's team fall into the third case.
In the mindset of the team determined to "hunt for gold" (U22 team) and defend the title (women's team), being pushed into the current situation is clearly not in the plan.
For coach Kim Sang-sik's U22 team, the problem came from a hard-fought 2-1 victory over U22 Laos. Khoan talked about the performance, the score was at a disadvantage, because 3 days later, U22 Malaysia beat U22 Laos 4-1. In theory, the ticket to the semi-finals is still within reach - just need to draw with U22 Malaysia to continue as the second team with the best record. But if so, the opponent in the semi-finals will almost certainly be U22 Thailand - the top team in Group A.
Therefore, U22 Vietnam must win to take the top spot to avoid the home team. No need to be afraid, but no matter what, the chance to enter the final will be greater if they do not meet U22 Thailand in the semi-finals. It is known that, before the ball was rolled, there was no way to conclude anything, but at this time, looking back at the performance against U22 Laos, I could see all the concern, focusing on the challenge in the card game against U22 Malaysia.
Meanwhile, the goal conceded in the extra minute against the Philippines women's team put Huynh Nhu and her teammates in a difficult position. In the final round of Group B, with 3 points after 2 matches, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team had to beat the Myanmar women's team (the team currently has 6 points) to rank above this opponent thanks to a better goal difference.
The problem is, if the Philippines wins Malaysia by a large enough margin, the Vietnam women's team will only have the second place in the group, with the possibility of facing host Thailand in the semi-finals. Worse, in the case of not beating Myanmar - the team that will most likely choose a "dweller", the Vietnamese women's team will even have to return home early if the Philippines beats Malaysia - the possibility is very high.
When the cards have been flip-flip, the rest belongs to the player's knowledge.
