On the evening of December 17, the Vietnam women's team will face the Philippines in the final match of the 33rd SEA Games women's football tournament. Before the tournament was considered a turning point, coach Mai Duc Chung affirmed that his students were ready both professionally and mentally to aim for the goal of winning gold medals.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, coach Mai Duc Chung highly appreciated the journey of the Vietnam women's team in this year's tournament. He emphasized: The Vietnamese women's team deserves to be in the final match. The Philippines is a very strong team, we will try to win.
The veteran coach of Vietnamese women's football expressed his respect for his opponents, especially after the Philippines' impressive victory over the home team in the semi-finals. I really respect the Philippine women's team as the better they play, the better they get, and the better they get, the better they get, coach Mai Duc Chung shared.
He also frankly pointed out the differences in physique and fitness between the two teams: I know the Philippines has much more physical strength and stature than us. The whole team will try to overcome the weakness against the Philippines to play well in tomorrow's match".
Assessing the diverse playing style of the Philippines, when opponents can combine long balls, balls and short combinations, coach Mai Duc Chung said that the coaching staff has specific coping options.
He said: "The more the Philippines plays, the more they improve, they are very meticulous in their tactics. It would be interesting to face a team with so many ways of playing. But no matter how we play, we will adapt.
According to coach Mai Duc Chung, the Vietnam women's team will not let the pressure of a final match affect their performance on the field.
The whole team will take the field with the highest determination, focusing until the last minutes and having a reasonable combination of experienced players and young faces who have performed well from the group stage to the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh said that the Vietnam women's team has prepared carefully in terms of tactics. She shared: "My teammates and I have prepared carefully to follow the tactics set by the coaching staff, will play short, tight balls, and pass passing to promote the inherent playing style of our team".
Kim Thanh also emphasized that the whole team had learned many lessons from the group stage loss: "We learned from the group stage loss, minimizing mistakes to avoid repeating tomorrow afternoon. Specifically, how will people see us perform on the pitch".
The final match between the Vietnamese women's team and the Philippines will take place at 7:30 p.m. on December 17. Coach Mai Duc Chung and his team aim to affirm their mettle and defend the position of Vietnamese women's football at the SEA Games arena.
