On the evening of September 21, the Vietnamese women's team drew 0-0 with Thailand in the last match of Group E of ASIAD 2026 women's football. This result helped coach Hoang Van Phuc's team win the right to enter the quarter-finals as one of the third-placed teams with good results.
Assessing the match, coach Hoang Van Phuc said that the coaching staff determined that this is a match that the Vietnamese women's team needs to aim for at least 1 point to open up opportunities to advance. Meanwhile, Thailand proactively changed the squad arrangement, switching to a 3-5-2 formation to increase attacking power.
The Vietnamese women's team did not start well and encountered difficulties in the first 15-20 minutes when they could not control the midfield area. After adjustments from the coaching staff, the players gradually regained the game and created balance against the opponent.
In the second half, the Vietnamese women's team proactively pushed up the squad instead of passive defense to preserve the result. Coach Hoang Van Phuc made 3 substitutions to increase the ability to press in 1/3 of the opponent's field.
These adjustments helped the Vietnamese women's team create some chances, including notable plays by Bich Thuy and Vu Thi Hoa. However, the red-shirted strikers could not put the ball into the Thai net.
Coach Hoang Van Phuc said: "In general, we are satisfied with 1 point but still have a lot of work to do. Especially, when the defense has the ball, they must boldly play control, don't play long balls".
According to this strategist, the Vietnamese women's team needs to improve their ability to enter the game and limit situations of hasty handling after regaining ball control.
In the quarterfinals, the Vietnamese women's team will face China, the top team in Group G. This is a big challenge as China is rated higher in terms of physique, fitness and technique. Before ASIAD 2026, the two teams met in a friendly match in Suzhou, with a 3-0 victory in favor of the home team.
Coach Hoang Van Phuc said that the immediate priority is to help players recover well after the group stage, before choosing tactical options for the quarter-finals.
Surely the Vietnamese women's team will play defensively but not too defensively. In particular, we must practice conversion plans from winning the ball to deploying quick attacks. Playing 90 minutes, we only need to choose times to press high", coach Hoang Van Phuc shared.
The quarter-final match between the Vietnamese women's team and China is scheduled to take place on September 25th in Japan. The coaching staff expects the players to have good physical and psychological preparation to enter the confrontation with the host team ASIAD 2026.
