Uzbekistan Vietnam women's team will play their best to have a beautiful farewell to coach Mai Duc Chung in his last match, despite facing a big challenge from Japan.
* Vietnam - Japan: 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 1, on VnExpress
Ahead of the second qualifying round of the 2024 Paris Olympics, coach Mai Duc Chung has decided to step down from his role as Vietnam's women's coach at the end of this year. Mr. Chung's 12 years with three periods of leadership and many glories will come to an end this afternoon, at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Uzbekistan.
Vietnam's female players take a photo with coach Mai Duc Chung at a training session before the match against Japan. Photo: VFF
According to midfielder Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, after the 0-1 loss to Uzbekistan, the whole team pulled themselves together and determined to play their best in the remaining matches. She shared: "Huynh Nhu told the whole team, 'Let's play, Uncle Chung only has two more matches to lead us, so we won't have another chance'. Then all the resentment automatically disappeared."
With that spirit, Vietnam defeated India 3-1 in the second match to keep their chance of passing the second qualifying round. But Bich Thuy and her teammates will have to beat Japan to have a chance to continue - a task considered impossible for the number one team in Asia, number eight in the world at the moment.
In the last five matches, Vietnam lost to Japan 0-7 at the 19th Asian Games, 0-3 at the 2022 Asian Cup, 0-7 at the 18th Asian Games, 0-4 at the 2018 Asian Cup and 1-6 at the 2016 Olympic qualifiers. When they met again at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, despite using the second team, Japan still easily beat Vietnam 7-0.
In today's match in Uzbekistan, due to the FIFA days, Japan brought a squad that reached the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup with seven names playing in Europe, notably Hinata Miyazawa - Man United, Yui Hasegawa - Man City, Saki Kumagai - Roma.
Vietnam (red shirt) lost to Japan (blue shirt) 0-7 in the group stage of Asiad 19. Photo: Huy Hoang
The most realistic goal for the Vietnamese team today is a draw, although it is unlikely to bring a ticket to the next round. If the goal is achieved, it will still be a double success, helping the team change its history of losing all matches against Japan and creating a happy ending for coach Mai Duc Chung. "Football always has surprises," Mr. Chung said on October 31. "Vietnam will try to achieve the best possible result."
Japan is the sixth team in the FIFA top 10 that the Vietnamese women's team has faced in the past two years. Previously, Mr. Chung's team lost to France 1-7, Germany 1-2, Spain 0-9, the US 0-3 and the Netherlands 0-7. This is the first time in history that Vietnam has faced the world's top teams with such a high frequency. Along with the first time participating in the World Cup, this streak is considered the highest limit under coach Mai Duc Chung and the Vietnamese women's football team.
Hieu Luong
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