Vietnam’s women’s team ready for Myanmar clash

The Vietnamese team had a training session on February 5 to get familiarised with the Jeju World Cup Stadium, the hosting venue of their Group A opener against Myanmar within the framework of the third qualification round for the 2020 Olympic Women’s Football Tournament.

Vietnamese players practise at the Jeju World Cup Stadium.
Vietnamese players practise at the Jeju World Cup Stadium.

The stadium on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, which is a 20 minute bus journey away from the team’s hotel, can accommodate up to 35,650 seats. It previously hosted several World Cup matches in 2002. This is also the home stadium of Jeju United FC, who are playing in the RoK’s top-tier football league, K League Classic.

Vietnam’s women’s team ready for Myanmar clash ảnh 1

As usual, the players very carefully completed their warm-up exercises at the beginning of the training session.

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Assistant coach Kim Hong continues to spend time practising with three goalkeepers Khong Thi Hang, Tran Thi Kim Thanh and Lai Thi Tuyet. Currently, Tran Thi Kim Thanh is the most experienced keeper of the Vietnamese team and has won the trust of head coach Mai Duc Chung following her brilliant performance at the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

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Chung’s troops had one hour of practice at Jeju World Cup Stadium to get familiarised with the grass surface for the match against Myanmar later this afternoon (Feb 6).

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Despite the cold weather with relative humidity, doctors and the coaching staff are still reminding the Vietnamese players to maintain water intake and vitamin supplementation during their training breaks to ensure fitness and health.

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At the end of the training session, midfielder Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung granted an interview to a correspondent of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) with questions related to Vietnam’s preparations and goals at the 2020 Olympic qualifiers round three.

Dung emphasised that the whole team were in a great and excited mood, with their confidence strongly boosted after the successes of 2019.

Despite hailing Myanmar as tough opponents with good fitness, the midfielder affirmed Vietnam’s target of securing a win to make it through to the play-off round.

Mai Duc Chung’s side are now fully ready to head into the important match against Myanmar at 5pm today with the highest determination.

Photo: VFF