Recruiting Vietnamese women to return
After the bronze medal lost to Myanmar on the evening of August 17th, coach Mai Dezhong decided to board the earliest flight back to Vietnam. So the team showed up at Manila Airport this morning. Nearly two hours later, at 8:20 am, he and his students arrived at Johor Bahru Airport. Unlike previous successful events, the teachers and students of head coach Maidezhong did not receive any welcome.
According to the plan, after returning to Ho Chi Minh City, the team will be disbanded. The players took a few days off with their families before returning to the club to train in preparation for the Nations Cup, which takes place in Hanoi from August 6 to 25. After that, they will participate in the women's football competition of the National Sports Festival held in Cam Pha, Quang Ninh.
Vietnam is expected to successfully defend the title of Southeast Asian football queen in the Philippines this year. The team started impressively, advanced to the group stage with a total victory record, scored 18 goals, and did not concede this time. However, coach Maidezhong's teachers and students suddenly lost 4-0 in the semi-final against the Philippines. In the bronze medal battle, despite the 4-0 victory in the final round of the group stage, the team continued to lose to Myanmar 3-4.
"I apologize to everyone," captain forward Huynh Nhu shared. "In this competition, the whole team can't bring joy home. Knowing that everyone is sad, the whole team has made a lot of efforts. Now is the time to rest and prepare for the upcoming journey. I hope that the women's football team can continue to get the love of the fans and will work harder to live up to this heart."
One female player told Metasports that the atmosphere at the team after the loss to Myanmar was rather heavy and almost no one was in the mood to talk to each other. Midfielder Tuyet Dung added: "We tried a lot, but the results were not as expected. I'm sorry, everyone. But failure is also a lesson, knowing where we are, we need to work hard to improve. More ways forward".
Head coach Mai Dezhong said that he would take full responsibility for this defeat. He added: "I want to change people. I want to strengthen my strength. At present, the Vietnamese team is in a situation where young players are inexperienced and cannot respond immediately. And the pillar has physical problems.".
As of this competition, the teachers and students of head coach Maidezhong have been focusing and continuing the competition for nearly one year. The teams reunited in November 2021 before travelling to Spain for training and then to India for the Asian Women's Football Championship. Here, the team performed well and won tickets for the 2023 World Cup. After that, they gathered again in Hanoi, went to Japan for training, and then returned to Vietnam to win the gold medal in the 31st Southeast Asian Games. Soon after, the team assembled again, went to France for training, and then went to the Philippines to participate in the competition.
