On the afternoon of December 13, at a press conference before the semi-final match of the 33rd SEA Games, coach Mai Duc Chung expressed caution but still put great faith in the victory of the Vietnam women's team when facing Indonesia at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow (December 14).
According to coach Mai Duc Chung, Indonesia is an opponent that has made many clear strides compared to before, especially thanks to the appearance of naturalized players.
"We will meet Indonesia in the semi-finals as a match that promises to be good. Because Indonesia is a team that is improving rapidly compared to what I had known about them before. They have never reached the semi-finals of the SEA Games before, compared to the team we met at the Southeast Asian tournament in Hai Phong, there are many changes. Especially the naturalized players have brought them new energy, coach Mai Duc Chung assessed.
The veteran coach of the Vietnam women's team said that the coaching staff has carefully studied the opponent, especially the ability to play long-distance and in competition in the air. I know Indonesia has replaced 6 players, including 4 naturalized players. They will probably play long balls and head balls well. But Vietnam, we are not playing blatantly, we are just coordinating. We have also studied our opponents and will have a countermeasure to deal with them. Although the opponent has many naturalizations, I believe Vietnam will win, he said.
Coach Mai Duc Chung also emphasized the spirit and collective strength of the Vietnamese female players: "I promise the fans, even though we meet a good opponent and are not inferior to the Philippines because there are many foreign players coming, with the spirit, will and determination of the whole team, the qualities of Vietnamese women, we players will know how to promote collective strength to strive for the best results".
On the other side of the front line, coach Akira Higashiyama affirmed that Indonesia is in a comfortable mood after reaching the semi-finals of the SEA Games for the first time.
This is a historic achievement for Indonesian football. The Vietnamese women's team is a very strong opponent, they have won the SEA Games many times and are a strong candidate for the championship," he said, adding that the team has learned many lessons from the loss to Thailand.
