Head coach Mai Duc Chung: “Vietnam women’s team will do their best to complete the goal”
On July 8, at Cam Pha Stadium, a press conference was held between the head coaches of the 31st SEA Games women’s teams and the media. Here, the head coaches shared a lot of information related to the preparation as well as the goals and evaluation of the tournament.
Entering the 31st SEA Games, the Vietnamese women’s team is being highly appreciated by experts and fans. The target this time of head coach Mai Duc Chung and the team is to try to defend the gold medal. At the press conference, head coach Mai Duc Chung said: “I am very happy that more and more teams are participating in the SEA Games women’s football. Even Cambodia and Malaysia are well prepared for this SEA Games. This is what makes Southeast Asian women’s football develop. In this year’s tournament, Thailand, Myanmar and Philippines focus on investing very well with the goal of winning the SEA Games gold medal, so Vietnam must play with the best performance and spirit to achieve the goal”.
Thailand and Myanmar each failed to get good results against the Vietnamese women’s team at the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup and lost the ticket to the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Meeting the Vietnamese women’s team again at the SEA Games 31, these teams are very determined to recover the debt. Head coach Mai Duc Chung said: “Thailand or Myanmar are both strong teams and perhaps they were unlucky while facing the Vietnamese women’s team in recent matches. After the bad results, I think at the 31st SEA Games, Thailand and Myanmar are both very hungry to get good results because they are both strong teams and of course they have high goals. The Vietnamese women’s team will try the best to play and complete the goal of winning the SEA Games gold medal with the spirit of fair-play so that countries can have a sympathetic view of the country and people of Vietnam.
At the 31st SEA Games, the Vietnamese women’s team will not have the joining of midfielder Thai Thi Thao. Talking about the unfortunate absence of Thai Thi Thao, head coach Mai Duc Chung expressed: “We are sorry that a good midfielder like Thao is absent, but we always prepare substitutes to play well in the tournament in any circumstances. Thai Thi Thao’s replacement has good expertise, so Vietnam still ensures its strength.”
The Vietnamese women’s team will have to meet a strong opponent from the Philippines in the first match, but head coach Mai Duc Chung is not worried: “We determined that to win a medal, we must overcome all opponents. It’s the same with any team, if we don’t meet first, we will meet later, so we are ready and prepared for the match against the Philippines.”
Also at the press conference, Myanmar team head coach Tin Myint Aung affirmed that his team absolutely had the opportunity to create a surprise: “Vietnam and Thailand are very strong, that’s what everyone knows. But we have had a good preparation process, so we will try to play well to achieve our goals. We have our own plan to complete this SEA Games in the best way. In the immediate future, Myanmar will aim for a ticket to the semi-finals.”
As for Philippines coach Alen Stajcic, the first opponent of the Vietnamese women’s team, he was very confident in the first match: “We understand Vietnam quite well, they are a formidable opponent. The Philippines does not have an optimal squad because many players are injured, but the substitutes will play well and this is their opportunity to show the ability with the coaching assistants so that it can be considered in the plan for the campaign Women’s World Cup 2023. In the group with Vietnam, we have a specific plan for the match on May 11 I believe we can surprise to get a good result against the Vietnamese women’s team”.
According to the Philippines coach, he had watched some recent matches in Vietnam and was very impressed with the vibrant atmosphere in the stands. “The stands in Vietnam are always full of spectators and I hope that at Cam Pha Stadium will be the same. Having a large spectator on the pitch is a great thing in football.”
Meanwhile, head coach Miyo Okamoto of the Thai women’s team said that the SEA Games is very interesting with the presence of many strong teams. The Thai women’s team has failed many times in this tournament, so they are very determined to get good results. Head coach Miyo Okamoto shared: “In the SEA Games, there are four strong teams and the opportunity to win gold is divided equally among the teams. Thailand lost to Vietnam in the competition for tickets to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, so we will do our best to win. Thailand also wants to meet Vietnam in the final match of the tournament. Of course, to reach that goal, we players will have to work very hard. We cannot determine in advance which team will make it to the semi-finals, but Thailand will try to solve each match.”
Assessing the force of the teams participating in the tournament, head coach of the Cambodia national team Park Vuthy expressed: “Attending the 31st SEA Games to meet strong opponents is a good opportunity for our players to practice their skills. Cambodia will make the best effort in each match.” Besides, Mr. Park Vuthy also said that the Vietnamese women’s team will have many opportunities to win medals: “Vietnam has many advantages and strong forces, so it will be a candidate for the championship. Besides, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines are also strong teams. I think Vietnam has the opportunity to successfully defend its gold medal.”
Meanwhile, head coach of the Laos team Vongmisay Soubouakham expressed: “Vietnam women’s team is the number one team in Southeast Asia and has the home-ground advantage, so it will be very strong. However, other competitors such as Thailand, the Philippines, and Myanmar are very determined, so Vietnam will face many great challenges. I think it’s going to be an interesting tournament and whichever team wins it’s going to be tough.”
Singapore’s coach Stephen Ng thinks that competing in the SEA Games will be a good opportunity for his players to prepare well for many upcoming tournaments and the experience of facing strong teams will be very good for his team.
At SEA Games 31, women’s football has 7 participating teams divided into 2 groups. Group A includes Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia and Group B has teams from Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Singapore. On May 9, the first match of the tournament will take place with the match between the Philippines and Cambodia. All matches of women’s football will take place at Cam Pha Stadium (Quang Ninh). The organisation committee will free all tickets to watch matches for spectators.
