Vietnam women's football team lost in AFF Cup semi-final
* Scores: Long 33 ', Annis 50', Bolden 63 '72'.
This is the first time that Vietnam's women's team has lost to Southeast Asian opponents since losing to Thailand in the semi-final of the AFC Cup in 2015. The experience and unity of the army led by head coach Maidezhong are not enough to counter the advantages of the Philippines in bodybuilding and physical strength-this emerging force benefits from hybrid players playing abroad.
The Philippines are one of two Southeast Asian teams to win tickets to the 2023 World Cup alongside Vietnam. So although Huynh Nhu and his team-mates beat their opponents 2-1 in the group stage of the 31st Southeast Asian Games, they remain concerned. However, coach Maidezhong is full of confidence in the strength of Vietnamese midfield, so he launched two strikers when Ren Huang and Haiyan started. Bich Thuy was put on the bench and Van Su played the main force.
The two teams tried each other in the first 30 minutes, but due to their strong ability to face each other in midfield, their advantages gradually favored the Philippines. Vietnam kept losing the ball in midfield, and had to fight back and catch the ball, which helped the Philippines improve its strength and sweeping ability. The left wing of the United States and Britain is constantly being cut off. Centre-back Candido Lang cuts into Vietnam's defence from this wide corner and hits the lower edge of the crossbar with a header into the net.
The opening goal made the Philippine team excited with the cheers of the home fans. Sarina Bolden keeps stirring up Vietnam's defense. The last two times in the first half faced Jin Qing, but they were both ungrateful. However, the striker still left the Vietnamese defender struggling. This can be seen in the case of Chuong Thi Kieu having to bleed on the artificial lawn to prevent Bolden's lateral stretch.
The presence of Bich Thuy and Hoang Thi Loan at the end of the first half did not help Vietnam get up, when the most dangerous shot was Huynh Nhu's free-kick wide of the post. At the beginning of the second half, the Philippines continued to bombard Jin Cheng's goal. Sola Farnigan twice squandered opportunities created by Bolden. But when the ball hit Hwang's loan hand in the penalty area, Rivera Annis made no mistake in the stage of facing the Vietnamese goalkeeper from the penalty spot.
The next few minutes witnessed Bolden's solo. The player, who has scored in the United States, China, Sweden and Japan, opened the gap for the Philippines from the corner in the same circumstances as the opening goal. Vietnam proved helpless when they could not compete with the ball and knew the coordination of their opponents.
Vietnam will compete with Myanmar for third place on July 17, and the Philippines will face Thailand in the final on the same day.
