After the first 2 matches, the Japanese women's team has scored 13 goals, not conceding any goals. They won against the Taiwanese (China) women's team 2-0 and defeated the Indian team 11-0. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese women's team won against India 2-1 in the first match, but then lost to the Taiwanese (China) team 0-1.
With this result, the Japanese women's team is guaranteed a ticket to the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese women's team wants to secure a ticket to the next round, they must at least get a draw. In case of defeat, the Vietnamese team still has a chance to advance in third place, but it must depend on the result of the remaining match between the Taiwanese (China) women's team and the Indian women's team.
Although rated much higher than the opponent, coach Nils Nielsen is still wary of the Vietnamese team and determined to win with the Japanese women's team.
He shared: "We will approach this match with the same organization and tight structure throughout the team. The Vietnamese team is a very fast team, especially in counter-attacks, so we need to be ready to play at a high pace. Hopefully we can overcome this challenge.
This match is very important and we want to maintain good momentum when continuing to prepare for the knockout round by improving small details in our playing style. The victory helps consolidate the progress of the whole team.
Being at the top of the table is very important for logistical reasons. If we are at the top of the table, we only need to move to Sydney once and, if we continue to win, the team can stay to play at the same location. Being at the top of the table will be very helpful for us”.
According to the schedule, the Japan vs Vietnam match will take place at Rectangular Stadium in Perth (Australia). If they top the group, the Japan team will move to Sydney to play in the quarter-finals. In case they continue to win to enter the semi-finals and finals, the Japanese women's team will also play in Sydney. Therefore, coach Nils Nielsen wants his students to maximize their advantage to defeat the Vietnamese team, thereby winning the top spot in the group.
Challenges for the Vietnamese women's team
With a squad mostly composed of players playing in Europe, mainly in England, the Japanese women's team has superior strength compared to the Vietnamese team. Coach Nil Nielsen is confident that the team can rotate the squad, but it will not reduce strength when playing against Mr. Mai Duc Chung's team.
Mr. Nielsen said: “We have a squad that is capable of adapting without reducing quality.Most people have participated in the tournament, so they know their role.
The Vietnamese team is a team that can cause difficulties for any opponent.They have excellent speed and some truly talented players.This will be a different challenge compared to our first two matches, but we are ready.It's good to face teams with different playing styles”.
Statistics from the Asian Football Confederation show that the Japanese women's team has defeated the Vietnamese women's team in all 5 previous encounters at the Asian tournament, each time scoring 3 or more goals. If they win for the sixth time in this match, the Vietnamese women's team will become the team that the Japanese women's team has faced the most without ever losing at the tournament.
Japan's victory over India is their 49th clean sheet match in the history of the tournament. Only China (51) has more clean sheet matches than Japan in the history of the Asian Women's Football Cup.
The Vietnamese women's team lost to Taiwan (China) with a score of 0-1 in the most recent match at the AFC Women's Asian Cup. The last time they suffered two consecutive defeats at this tournament was a streak of eight consecutive defeats from May 2014 to January 2022.
The Vietnam women's team vs Japan match will take place at 4:00 PM on March 10th (Vietnam time).
