Coach Mai Duc Chung: 'Playing against Guam is harder than the previous two teams'

Head coach of the Vietnamese women's team, Mr. Mai Duc Chung, was satisfied with his players' performance against Guam, an opponent with superior physique and strength, in the match on the evening of July 5.

Coach Mai Duc Chung still has many concerns about the future of the Vietnamese women's team - Photo: ANH DUC

At Viet Tri Stadium, the Vietnamese women's team beat Guam 4-0 in the final round of Group E of the 2026 Asian Women's Cup qualifiers, thereby winning a ticket to the final round in Australia with an all-win record.

"I am satisfied with my players because Guam is not an easy opponent. They have superior stature and strength. Playing against Guam is much harder than the other two teams (Maldives and UAE)," coach Mai Duc Chung shared at the press conference after the match.

He continued to analyze the tactics in the match: "I am also satisfied with the way the players played. The players were able to play cohesively, coordinate triangles, and push to the two wings instead of passing long balls. From there, we were able to score 4 goals."

Thus, 3 wins against Maldives, UAE and Guam helped the Vietnamese women's team complete the goal of winning a ticket to the 2026 Women's Asian Cup finals. This is also the qualifying round for the 2027 Women's World Cup finals.

Talking about the possibility of winning a ticket to the world tournament for the second time in history, coach Mai Duc Chung said he could not declare anything in advance, but did not deny that this was not only his wish but also that of his students.

The obstacle for the Vietnamese women's team is that it still depends largely on veterans. That is the reason why the qualifying round's roster still has very few contributions from young players.

"The young men's players have not yet met the national team level, let alone our women's players. The veterans have played together for a long time to get to this point, it is a persistent, long-term and tiring process. We need to be patient," coach Mai Duc Chung analyzed.

On the Guam women's team side, head coach Kimberly Sherman said the match against Vietnam brought her and her players many valuable lessons.

"The Vietnamese women's team is an experienced opponent. I am proud of my players. The whole team has tried hard and learned many lessons. Although we still lack opportunities to compete, we have learned a lot from this match. We will come back stronger and not stop here," said Ms. Sherman.

NGOC LE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hlv-mai-duc-chung-da-voi-guam-kho-thang-hon-2-doi-truoc-20250705220106281.htm