Defender Hoang Thi Loan: 'We will play with the highest spirit in the final match at the World Cup'

After the 0-2 loss to the Portuguese team, defender Hoang Thi Loan shared:“At the end of the match with Portugal, I felt very sad because I tried very hard but just a few unprepared situations caused the team to concede an undeserved goal. The atmosphere of the whole team was not as happy as after the match with the US women's team. Although we played our best, the team still did not follow the head coach's tactics.”

The defender of the Vietnamese women's team continued:“In the match against Portugal, I think the players were very eager to score a goal, so they were a bit hasty. Attacking and pushing the formation very early caused the Vietnamese women's team to leave gaps for the opponent to counterattack. Each individual as well as the whole Portuguese team were very strong and fast, so our defenders could not defend, leading to unfortunate goals. Personally, I was not very satisfied because when facing an opponent who was fast, strong and had good breakthrough ability, I could not keep up with them.”

Hoang Thi Loan affirmed:“We will continue to play our best in the final match of the World Cup with the highest fighting spirit! I think the coaching staff will calculate to have a suitable lineup to play against the Netherlands, aiming for a good result.”

After the second loss, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team immediately returned to the training ground to fix their mistakes and prepare for the upcoming match against the Dutch women's team.

Due to the need to travel from Hamilton to Auckland, instead of the usual morning training session after each match, the coaching staff arranged for the whole team to practice in the evening. Continuously practicing during this time frame will also help the players adapt better to the cold weather in the evening in New Zealand.

Coach Mai Duc Chung and his team will have their final match at the 2023 Women's World Cup, against the Netherlands women's team on August 1./.