In October 2022, as soon as the draw for the 2023 Women's World Cup was announced, coach Andries Jonker honestly shared: "I don't know anything about Vietnamese football at the moment. I heard rumors that they can control the match, but certainly the Netherlands should not underestimate them."
In the months that followed, coach Andries Jonker and the KNVB did everything they could to learn more about the girls of the Vietnamese women's team. However, the 60-year-old coach shared that it was not an easy task.
“Vietnam is on the other side of the hemisphere, most of the players play in their own countries. Therefore, the selection of matches to watch has not been consistent for many months,” KNVB revealed.
In April 2023, KNVB shared that the first opportunity to watch the Vietnamese women's team play live had arrived. At that time, Huynh Nhu and her teammates had traveled to Nepal to participate in a match in the first qualifying round of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Vietnamese women's team won 5-1 against host Nepal, with Huynh Nhu contributing 2 goals.
Marleen Wissink, a former international scout for the KNVB, traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal, to watch Mai Duc Chung’s team play. Returning to the Netherlands, Marleen Wissink said: “They are a good team. You shouldn’t underestimate their world ranking. However, we can still easily overcome them.”
Based on Marleen Wissink's sharing, coach Andries Jonker began to analyze more about the Vietnamese women's team. Since April 2023, every match of the Vietnamese women's team has been reviewed many times and studied very carefully by the 60-year-old coach. Even when looking at the world rankings, coach Andries Jonker saw that Vietnam was ranked 32nd and he was very surprised by this.
Coach Andries Jonker to study Vietnam women's team from October 2023
“With Huynh Nhu as a lone striker in a defensive 5-4-1 formation, the Vietnamese women’s team made quite an impression during their preparations for the World Cup. The team only lost 1-2 to European runner-up Germany. But then the Vietnamese team lost 0-9 to Spain.
At the World Cup, the Vietnamese women's team turned out to be a tough but also weak opponent. They lived up to their nickname 'The Diamond Girls' in their first match against the world's top team, the United States, losing only 0-3. What the coach saw before will certainly come in handy in the upcoming match. Having held their own against both the United States and Portugal, Vietnam are a team not to be underestimated.
The big question is whether Vietnam can stop the Netherlands from scoring. We need a goal in the battle with the US to win the group," NU commented on the upcoming match between the two teams.
What the Vietnamese women's team (in white) did at the 2023 Women's World Cup brought great pride to the country's football fans.
In a pre-match interview, midfielder Lieke Martens also had special respect for the Vietnamese women's team. She shared: "We saw opportunities that we could attack. We respect and really like what the Vietnamese women's team did.
But we were ready. As a top athlete, you want to achieve the best possible result. It's great to be the winner of Group E and to be able to avoid Sweden in the next round."
Lieke Martens (left) affirmed that she is very respectful and will play her best in the match with the Vietnamese women's team.
The match between the Vietnamese women's team and the Dutch women's team will take place at 2 p.m. on August 1 at Forsyth Barr Stadium. It is expected that after the match, the team will rest and then begin their journey to leave New Zealand on August 2.
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