Vietnam - Netherlands: Fighting for face in the 2023 World Cup
* Vietnam – Netherlands: 14:00 Tuesday, August 1, on MetaSports.
After two defeats against the US and Portugal, coach Mai Duc Chung admitted that it was a clear demonstration of the difference in many levels between Vietnam and the world. The players felt the suffocating pressure from the US, the sharpness of Portugal when the Vietnamese squad moved only for a moment. That difference is honestly described by striker Pham Hai Yen, as a striker but without a chance to finish, having to retreat to become a defender most of the time.
While the journey is coming to an end, coach Mai Duc Chung's teachers and students really want to leave the tournament with at least one goal, even a draw. It was like a beautiful goodbye to the tournament in the same way that Zambia - the team with the lowest FIFA ranking for the 2023 Women's World Cup - won its first victory by beating Costa Rica yesterday, while avoiding becoming the second Asian team all over the world. lost in the group stage without scoring since Japan in 1991.
The early elimination was somewhat disappointing, but coach Mai Duc Chung insisted that the team did not give up because of that. On the race to win tickets to the 1/8 round in Group E, Vietnam still has an impact, which can be an uncomfortable barrier to the ambition of the Dutch opponent - the reigning runner-up of the Women's World Cup.
Meeting a weaker Vietnam, the determination of the Netherlands was clearly shown. Coach Andries Jonker does not hide his ambition to attack, although in theory, just a draw is enough. Not only winning, the Netherlands wants to score as many goals as possible to win the first place in Group E, thereby avoiding a strong opponent in Group G in the 1/8 round, which is likely to be Sweden.
However, Jonker reminded the players not to be complacent after the difficulties that Vietnam created for the US and Portugal. World women's football is gradually narrowing the gap when there are fewer and fewer matches with too different scores, instead of battles from the first second to the end of the match.
Even in Australia and New Zealand, the Netherlands has many lessons learned from the failures of strong teams, while Vietnam is still steadily gaining momentum from the shocking ups and downs of the lower teams. And even without a specific goal, Vietnam still has the pride to create a challenging 90 minutes with the reigning runner-up at the "greenhouse" Forsyth Barr.
