Add lessons to improve

More lessons to improve - photo 1 — The losses at the 2025 World Championship will be valuable lessons for the Vietnamese women's volleyball team.

Lack of stability

Competing at the World Championship can be considered an important step forward, but also full of challenges for the Vietnamese women's team. Especially after two consecutive defeats against Germany (0-3) and Poland (1-3), coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet and his team have somewhat more clearly felt the gap between Vietnamese volleyball and the group of leading teams in Europe and the world . Although the results were not as expected, these matches brought many valuable lessons for the long-term development journey.

The most noticeable thing in both of these defeats is the physical disadvantage. The Vietnamese women's team has an average height of 176.8 cm, ranking 31st out of 32 teams in the tournament, just above Japan (174.1 cm). Meanwhile, Germany and Poland both have players with an average height of over 185 cm, creating a lot of pressure at the net.

The strong blocking and attacking from the sidelines made the Vietnamese defense unstoppable. Although coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's players tried their best with a fast and flexible playing style, against the opponent's high blocking line, their attacking plans were often broken right from the first step. This is an important lesson for Vietnamese volleyball in investing in developing a team of athletes with good physique, while building diverse tactics to overcome inherent limitations.

The match against Poland most clearly showed the psychological problem. After winning the first set, the Vietnamese girls could not maintain their excitement and quickly lost the game in the following sets. In the match against Germany, although there were times when they caused difficulties and created certain pressure on their opponents, Thanh Thuy and her teammates could not maintain it for long. This reflects the lack of stability in their competitive spirit. The Vietnamese players are still easily swept away by the developments of the match, instead of maintaining concentration and a persistent fighting spirit.

To compete fairly in the world arena, the team needs to further improve its ability to control its mentality, especially during pivotal moments. “We have had moments of very good play, but stability is not guaranteed. European opponents always know how to take advantage of the smallest mistakes. This is the weakness that we need to improve if we want to go further,” coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet assessed.

Keep improving

In the match against Kenya, an opponent of equal strength and also a loser in the friendly match before the 2025 World Cup, the Vietnamese girls also had difficulty against the powerful playing style of their opponents. Unlike the matches against European teams, where Vietnam was completely overwhelmed in terms of physique and strength, the confrontation with Kenya showed that there was a chance, but the difference came from their inconsistent performance.

The Vietnamese girls did not start well in all three sets, then played well in the middle of the set, but lost control of the game due to consecutive mistakes in passing and defense, leading to defeat. Kenya is a team that plays with strength but at times seemed impatient. If they could maintain their concentration, the Vietnamese women's team could have exploited that weakness. On the contrary, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's students often lost points at key moments, especially at the end of each set.

Coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet said about the loss to Kenya: “Kenya plays spontaneously and powerfully. Today, our players did not have a good rhythm, the blockers and the positions did not complete their tasks. We let them play explosively. When the opponent plays spontaneously like that, their spirit is high. They handled many difficult situations. With that way of playing, we deserved to lose.”

It can be said that the whitewash defeat against Kenya is a warning for Vietnamese women's volleyball to recognize reality. To reach the continental and world level, it is not only necessary to have physical strength and technique, but also to have a strong will and focus in all situations, against all opponents.

Coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet also frankly admitted: “We need to look straight at the problem, if we want to participate in the World Championship, we must be in the top 3 in Asia. This is very difficult. Through this tournament, the coaching staff and athletes will look back at themselves, what needs to be improved and overcome because this playground is very harsh. In addition to courage and spirit, we need stability in all aspects.”

Of course, stepping out into the “big sea” for the first time made the players feel bewildered and a bit “overwhelmed”. Even though the results were not as expected, the players could still be proud of what they had shown. Although they were at a disadvantage in terms of strength and physique, Thanh Thuy and her teammates were not defeated in terms of fighting spirit.

Against opponents of a higher level, the Vietnamese girls still did not give up, especially in the match against Poland when they created long balls, defended persistently and counterattacked with determination. Winning a set against the team ranked 3rd in the world is a testament to the progress of the Vietnamese girls.

Failure is not a pessimistic thing, but on the contrary, it is a measure for the coaching board and the whole team to clearly see their strengths and weaknesses, from which they can make adjustments and improvements. The journey at the world championship has ended and if they know how to take advantage of the valuable experiences and lessons from the matches at the tournament, the Vietnamese players can absolutely make new progress.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/them-bai-hoc-de-cai-thien-164719.html