AFC Women’s Asian Quarter-final: Vietnam team cannot make a surprise over China team

“We conceded early in the game as the players were anxious and eager to win,” said China PR head coach Shui Qingxia. “We made mistakes in defending and were lucky to score in the first half. Our players, however, came back in the second half and won the game.”

Vietnam head coach Mai Duc Chung was proud of his players despite the defeat.

“I’m very proud of the players,” said Mai. “We tried our best against a strong team like China PR. Even though our squad is depleted due to COVID-19 pandemic, we showed determination on the field today.”

China PR came into the tie having won all their group games without conceding a goal, while Vietnam were vying to chart history by progressing into the semi-finals and sealing FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia/New Zealand qualification.

Mai Duc Chung rested forward Huynh Nhu in favour of a Pham Hai Yen-Nguyen Thi Van partnership up front but Vietnam found themselves under pressure in the opening exchanges.

China PR attacked in numbers with Wang Shuang having a goal disallowed for offside in the seventh minute while Tang Jiali’s header sailed over the bar two minutes later.

Despite their lack of possession, Vietnam crafted the first goal in the 11th minute with Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung intercepting China’s Yang Lina’s poor clearance from just above the box before striking the ball past goalkeeper Yu Zhu into the bottom left corner.

A visibly stunned China PR quickly regrouped but struggled to find the back of the net with Wang Shuang, Jiali and Wang Xiaoxue all missing their efforts from outside the six-yard-box.

However, the eight-time champions were back on level terms in the 25th minute, with Wang Shuang scoring off a rebound after Wang Shanshan forced a fine save from Vietnam custodian Tran Thi Kim Thanh.