Maldives coach: 'Vietnam women's team is invincible'

Head coach Mohamed Athif of the Maldives women's team praised the Vietnamese women's team after their 0-7 loss on the evening of June 29 at Viet Tri Stadium.

Coach Mohamed Athif of the Maldives women's team - Photo: NGOC LE

Although Maldives lost to the Vietnamese women's team 7-0, head coach Mohamed Athif was not too disappointed because he considered this result obvious.

"I have watched the Vietnamese women's team play in the Asian Cup and World Cup, so I am aware of their strength. I know what they can do with such speed and technique. With the leading position in Southeast Asia, Vietnam plays football with great confidence. In this group, the Vietnamese women's team is unrivaled," coach Mohamed Athif answered a question from Tuoi Tre Online .

The Maldives team captain was still satisfied with his players, as despite losing 6 goals in the first half, the team only conceded 1 more goal in the second half. He said that in a Muslim country like the Maldives, overcoming prejudice to advocate for women to play football is a valuable thing.

"Maldives does not have a domestic tournament for women, they can only practice with the boys' youth teams. Therefore, playing with the Vietnamese women's team is a great opportunity for my students. You see, after Vietnam missed the penalty kick in the last minute of injury time, the Maldives players celebrated enthusiastically. At least they dared to face the Vietnamese women's team. I believe they will improve even more," said coach Mohamed Athif.

Losing 0-7 to the Vietnamese women's team, Maldives ranked bottom of Group E of the 2026 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers (Asian Women's Championship) with 0 points and a goal difference of -7.

As for coach Mai Duc Chung, the captain of the Vietnamese women's team expressed his dissatisfaction because the players missed many opportunities. Among them, Huynh Nhu's penalty kick hit the post, missing the chance to increase the score to 8-0.

"I want to win by a bigger margin. The players missed too many goals, even penalties. Maybe in the second half they hesitated, felt satisfied and relaxed. I hope we will score better in the next matches," said coach Mai Duc Chung.

In response to the opinion that Huynh Nhu did not play well, coach Mai Duc Chung denied: "It's not that Huynh Nhu did not play well. He has been out for a long time and is old. His form, ball sense and physical strength are different from before. That's why I didn't put Nhu in the starting lineup."

NGOC LE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hlv-maldives-tuyen-nu-viet-nam-vo-doi-20250629215706702.htm