ESPN warns Vietnam women's team before semi-final match with Australia

TPO - ESPN has just published an article pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of Vietnam and U23 Australia, the two teams that will face each other in the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian Women's Championship at 8:00 p.m. on August 16. According to this world-leading publication, the difficulty for Vietnam is the high expectations from fans.

ESPN analyzed: “Vietnam has a strong squad, an experienced coach and is playing at home. They are the only team that has maintained an all-win record since the beginning of the tournament. This team has not even conceded a goal. In their squad, there are many players who played in the 2023 World Cup. The trio Tuyet Dung, Huynh Nhu and Hai Yen have scored more than 170 goals for the team.

This team has squad depth. Coach Mai Duc Chung can rotate the starting lineup without reducing the quality of the game. Therefore, it is difficult to say that age will affect them, because Mr. Chung has kept his players fit for a long journey.

However, the team’s biggest challenge is to overcome themselves. ESPN wrote: “Certainly, huge expectations are placed on their shoulders. After the recent victories of the men’s team in the Southeast Asian region such as the ASEAN Cup or the U23 tournament, Vietnamese fans will probably demand similar dominance in the playground for the ladies. Can coach Mai Duc Chung and his students withstand this pressure? That will be the deciding factor to bring them to the final destination.”

Vietnam has home field advantage but the team will also be under pressure to perform.

On the other side of the battle line, the most obvious weakness that can be seen in U23 Australia is the experience factor, when they only brought a U23 squad, even more than half of the team are U20 players.

“Australia is a strong football nation in the world . But at the youth level, they still have a lot to improve. That was reflected in the 1-2 loss to Myanmar in the opening match. Obviously, experience is what their players lack. With their young age, will U23 Australia be wise enough to face the experienced opponent Vietnam?”, ESPN asked.

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Source: https://tienphong.vn/espn-canh-bao-tuyen-nu-viet-nam-truoc-tran-ban-ket-voi-australia-post1769679.tpo