Portugal coach: 'We will attack Vietnam aggressively'
*Vietnam - Portugal: 2:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27, on MetaSports.
"Portugal will control the ball, try to push to a third of the opponent's field, attack flexibly, with many spears, launch continuous shots," Mr. Neto told Portuguese newspaper Sapo about tactics for the match against Vietnam at the 2023 World Cup. "Players must move aggressively, create space to attack and find effective finishing areas".
Like Vietnam, Portugal also participated in the World Cup for the first time. In the first leg of Group E, both teams played better than expected. Neto's army made the reigning runner-up Netherlands struggle to win 1-0, while Vietnam only lost 0-3 to the US - the number one women's team in the world and the defending champion.
Mr. Neto revealed that he and the coaching staff and students carefully studied the playing style of Vietnamese women from the video data of the first matches.
"In the match against the US and both friendly matches against Germany and New Zealand, Vietnam always had dangerous situations in the quick transitions from defense to attack. This team defended with a large number of players. , but there is always a player who plays freely to switch states. They are also very agile," said the Portuguese coach.
Due to the loss of the opening match, Portugal must win the remaining two matches to win the next ticket. However, coach Neto determined to focus only on the Vietnam match. He said: "We have to have three points ahead of Vietnam before we can go further. Only then will we see how we can show our ability when confronting the defending champion America."
The match between Portugal and Vietnam took place in Hamilton. This is an advantage for European representatives, because they are familiar with the Waikato field. It was here that Mr. Neto's teachers and students beat Cameroon 3-2 in the intercontinental play-off to win tickets to the 2023 World Cup. "We are very familiar with that stadium, it's like Portugal's home ground. We will try to take advantage of this. The team will play strong and determined," added Mr. Neto.
