Coach Mai Duc Chung: 'Vietnamese women kept their promise before the match'

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"I am satisfied with the spirit of the whole team as well as the players' correct execution of the game," Chung said after the match. "Before today's match, we promised that Vietnamese women may lose professionally, but will show a very good spirit and resilience against a superior opponent in all aspects."

The 73-year-old military leader was also touched and proud when he played with Vietnamese football for the first time in a World Cup. "Previously, our football, both men and women, had never attended the World Cup. So my emotions surged when the Vietnamese national anthem sounded at the highest level of women's football this time."

In the first time stepping out on the world's highest playing field of women's football, the Vietnamese girls could not surprise the US - the world's number one team and the champion in the last two World Cups. However, the army under coach Mai Duc Chung still made a strong impression with brave defensive play and achieved the goal of limiting the number of goals conceded.

In the first half, despite conceding an early goal and under tremendous pressure from an opponent who was superior in all aspects, the Vietnamese women still persevered. The team escaped the second goal when goalkeeper Kim Thanh blocked Alex Morgan's penalty kick after Hoang Thi Loan fouled Trinity Rodman. It was not until the 10th minute of compensation that the US could double the gap with striker Sophia Smith's back-kick after VAR entered the game, determining that Morgan was not offside in the situation where he headed down to make Kim Thanh unable to catch the ball.

The same scenario in the first half reappeared after halftime. But the US also only scored one more goal in the 77th minute. Smith stole the ball from Chuong Thi Kieu's feet in the Vietnamese penalty area, then passed it inside for Horan to shoot straight into the empty net.

Statistics show that the US holds the ball 66%, finishes 28 shots, including 7 goals, while Vietnam does not finish a single time. However, that difference also partly shows that coach Mai Duc Chung's army has succeeded in limiting the number of goals conceded. In addition to the situation of successfully blocking the penalty, goalkeeper Kim Thanh also played ecstatically with a series of rescue and saved situations, many times causing the superstars to attack on the defending champion's side shaking their heads in disgust.

In 2019, the Thai women, in their first entry to the World Cup finals, also met the US team in the opening match. But then, this representative of Southeast Asian football lost 0-13.