New Zealand coach: 'Vietnam is a different opponent'

New Zealand coach Jitka Klimkova considers Vietnam an important test before meeting the Philippines – another Southeast Asian representative in the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage.

Coach Jitka Klimkova will lead the New Zealand women's team from 2021. Photo: AFP

"Vietnam is different from any opponent we have faced in the preparation for the World Cup," Klimkova said on the New Zealand Football Federation (NZF) homepage today.

The Czech coach hopes to see Vietnam's defensive ability with a deep formation and tight marking. She also affirmed that New Zealand has prepared a plan and expects the players to show good understanding and connection with each other. "We want to have as much possession as possible, coordinate and create scoring opportunities," said Klimkova.

Meanwhile, midfielder Ria Percival – New Zealand’s co-captain alongside Ali Riley – has made no secret of her goal of winning after a run of 10 games of draws and losses. Since the start of 2023, New Zealand have lost to the US, Portugal, Argentina, Nigeria and only drawn 1-1 with Iceland. Vietnam are their first and last Asian opponents before entering the World Cup against Norway on July 20.

"We are focused on winning. The team needs a good performance to gain confidence going into the World Cup opener 11 days later," Percival said.

The New Zealand women's team practiced on the afternoon of July 8. Photo: Football Ferns

The New Zealand Football Federation highly appreciated Vietnam, saying that the home team should not only look at the fact that their opponent is participating in the World Cup for the first time. "Vietnam just won the SEA Games gold medal for the fourth consecutive time," NZF assessed. "They only lost 1-2 to the world's number two team, Germany, after a fierce defense with the highlight being their man-to-man marking ability."

NZF rated the two Vietnamese players worth watching as Huynh Nhu and Nguyen Thi Thanh Nha. However, captain Huynh Nhu is likely to continue to be absent due to not fully recovering from injury. The New Zealand player is suggested to keep an eye on Thanh Nha, who is famous for her speed and goal-scoring ability.

Vietnam will face New Zealand at 5:30 pm local time, or 12:30 pm Hanoi time, tomorrow, July 10, at McLean Park. The two teams have never met before. For New Zealand, this is the first time the team has played in Napier. Therefore, the City Council is also very interested, expecting about 5,000 spectators to come to the stadium to watch live compared to the capacity of 19,700 seats.

Hieu Luong

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