What is the problem of the Vietnamese women's team?

Anti-high ball solution

Among the limitations of the Vietnamese women's team when entering the big stage, high balls are always a weakness that causes the girls to concede many undeserved goals. The modest physique of coach Mai Duc Chung's students is always at a disadvantage when participating in Asian tournaments or the World Cup. Even when facing a regional opponent but has a few tall players who have been naturalized, although their skills are not too excellent, like the Philippine women's team, the Vietnamese defense still reveals many weaknesses, leading to being exploited quite easily. In other words, we lack an effective solution to counter high balls.

Đâu là vấn đề của tuyển nữ Việt Nam ? - Ảnh 1. — When Chuong Thi Kieu (3) returns, she will add stability to the defense of the Vietnamese women's team.

Typically, in the recent group stage match of the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, the Vietnamese women's team could have won against other opponents very "sweetly" but lost to the Philippines 1-2 with a goal from the penalty spot and the decisive goal from the opponent's header. Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga, Le Thi Diem My or Tran Thi Thu (later added Luong Thi Thu Thuong or brought Tran Thi Hai Linh back), the central defenders that coach Mai Duc Chung had worked hard to build up at that time, seemed to disappear when the opponent jumped up to head the ball.

Obviously, the ability to compete, choose positions, predict high balls as well as organize to catch people when jumping of the Vietnamese women's defense is still very unsynchronized, sometimes being careless or losing focus. Recently, in the friendly match losing 1-2 to Germany, the second goal conceded by Hoang Thi Loan and her teammates was from a header pass from the opponent while the Vietnamese defense seemed not ready and was startled, leaving a gap for the world's second-ranked team to exploit.

Looking for a defensive leader

Chuong Thi Kieu has long been considered the leader of the defense thanks to her comprehensive vision and extensive playing experience. However, persistent injuries have caused the central defender from Ho Chi Minh City to lose her position, forcing Mr. Chung to experiment with many new factors. But it seems that no one has the ability and courage to flexibly organize the defense system of the 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formation of Vietnam . This is a problem that is causing headaches for coach Mai Duc Chung. Like Tran Thi Thu (32 years old) or Thu Thao (30 years old) are considered to have played consistently for many years, but when placed in Kieu's position, they still cannot create peace of mind. Diem My also only plays a fair role, cannot play a commanding role. Young factors like Hai Linh, Thu Thuong or Thuy Nga still need time to assert themselves.

Hopefully, by the 2023 World Cup, Chuong Thi Kieu can return to increase stability, and also be one of the tactical pieces to organize from anti-counterattack to counterattack, like the way Kieu rose to score in the 2-1 win over Taiwan at the 2022 Asian Cup in India to win a ticket to the World Cup.

But the long-term injury will certainly still affect the number 1 star of Vietnam 's defense, so coach Mai Duc Chung needs to build a worthy replacement. Among the 5 central defenders (besides Chuong Thi Kieu) brought to New Zealand this time, Mr. Chung built Thu Thuong - Diem My and Tran Thi Thu in the friendly match against Germany.

They played very hard but clearly still faced many big challenges from opponents above them. At this time, if we cannot find a leader to replace Chuong Thi Kieu, the requirement for this trio of central defenders is to be extremely confident, organize to catch and cover well, command the two wings as well as the defensive midfielders to intercept from afar effectively and, importantly, to be really focused and mentally stable. If we do that, we will gradually be able to improve our ability to defend against high balls and have enough strength to aim for the World Cup in the long term.

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