The half-time pep talk of head coach Mai Duc Chung propels Vietnam to victory

After a goalless first half, Ngan Thi Van Su’s 62nd minute header proved the difference as Vietnam confirmed their place in next month’s Play-offs for a berth in Tokyo 2020.

They face Korea Republic, who defeated Myanmar 7-0 in their opener, on Sunday to determine the group winners.

“During the break, I tried to lift the team’s morale,” the 69-year-old head coach revealed.

“I saw that Myanmar were playing the long-ball game, hence I told my players to intensify the pressure and that worked well in our favour.

“Both teams understand each other very well because we’re from the same region, hence the matches between the two nations can be challenging at times.”

“We are in the midst of assimilating young players into the squad and are still developing. There’s plenty of room for improvement in certain aspects of our game.

“The fans always show their support wherever we play in Asia. I was pleasantly surprised with the support in the stadium.

“I didn’t expect Park Hang-seo, the men’s national team head coach to show up. That gave us added motivation to perform against Myanmar.”

Despite Myanmar bowing out of the tournament, head coach Tin Myint Aung praised his players for showing character against Vietnam.

“I want to thank the players for playing to the best of their abilities. They showed good fighting spirit but in the end, the better team won,” said Tin.

“We had our chances to score but didn’t capitalise on them, plus Vietnam’s players are individually skillful and that made the job harder for us.

“In football, if you lose concentration for a second, you lose the game and that’s what happened to us.”