According to coach Mai Duc Chung, the players are having to quickly adapt to the different weather conditions to prepare for the 2023 World Cup.
The team is currently based in Napier, a coastal city in the North Island. The average temperature is currently between 7 and 13 degrees Celsius, which is quite cold - a far cry from Vietnam. However, this place is still... warmer than Dunedin - where the team will play the final group stage match against the Netherlands. Dunedin is located in the South Island, and it is currently snowing.
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Vietnam practiced at Mc Lean Park on the morning of July 7. |
Since arriving in New Zealand, Coach Mai Duc Chung and his players have had to wear thermal pants and jackets during practice. They regularly remind each other to take care of their health during daily activities, travel, and eating and sleeping.
"The weather is a problem that the team has to face," Coach Chung said before the morning practice session on July 7, but he also said that this is a normal thing that any team has to face when coming to a foreign country.
The Hanoi coach added: "The US and African teams also come from hot countries. We don't always get to play in favorable weather conditions. All teams have to deal with this. The team that overcomes this faster and better can compete more easily."
This is the second time Coach Chung has come to New Zealand. The last time was in October 2022, to attend the 2023 World Cup draw.
He said that this time the joy was multiplied because his students were with him, with the aim of participating in the world finals. "This is what we have always dreamed of and now we have achieved it," said the most successful coach in the history of Vietnamese football.
In this morning's training session, the coaching staff began to increase the intensity, requiring the players to attack quickly and handle the ball neatly in a small area. In the afternoon, the team continued to practice on the field. But tomorrow there will only be one training session. Coach Chung said that as the match day approaches, the team will gradually reduce the frequency, but still maintain a high intensity so that the players can quickly adapt to the competition density.
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Coach Mai Duc Chung at Mc Lean Park in Napier (New Zealand) on the morning of July 7. |
As planned, Vietnam will play a friendly match with New Zealand on July 10. The opponent is currently ranked 26th in the world, six places higher than Vietnam and is co-host of the 2023 World Cup with Australia. This match will be broadcast live on Vietnamese television.
On July 14, Coach Chung and his team will play their final friendly match against the world's sixth-ranked team, Spain, also at McLean Park. This match will not have fans or media, in order to keep team and tactical information confidential before the official tournament.
"This is a good test. The two friendly matches are an opportunity for us to get used to the playing style of the other teams, thereby gradually overcoming our difficulties," said coach Mai Duc Chung.
After the training camp in Napier, the team will travel back to Auckland to prepare for their opening match against defending champions the United States on July 22. Five days later, the team will face Portugal in Hamilton. The final match for Chung and his team will take place on August 1 against the Netherlands.
This is the first time Vietnam has participated in the World Cup finals, and is in the same group with formidable opponents. The US is the most successful team in the history of the tournament with four championships (including the two most recent in 2015 and 2019), while the Netherlands is the current runner-up. Coach Mai Duc Chung therefore does not put too much emphasis on achievements, and sees this as an opportunity for the team to compete with opponents that are normally difficult to invite for friendly matches even with money.
The 2023 World Cup will take place from July 20 to August 20, with 32 teams divided equally into eight groups. In the group stage, the teams will play a round robin to determine the two teams with the highest scores to advance to the round of 16.
The Vietnam women's football team has entered the 2023 World Cup. This is a historic milestone for Vietnamese football in general and women's football in particular. For the first time, Vietnamese football has entered a major global arena and is one of the 32 best teams.
According to VnExpress
New Zealand, Coach Mai Duc Chung, Vietnam Women's Football Team, Women's World Cup 2023
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