Viet Nam will have to scale a huge mountain in
its semi-final match in the women’s football competition at the Asian
Games (ASIAD) in Incheon, South Korea today.
In their first ever ASIAD semi-final game, the
women’s team will play against world champion Japan, one of Asia’s top
four in women’s football, after beating Thailand in the quarter-finals.
Japan entered the semi-finals after beating Hong
Kong, 9-0. The other semi-final game will witness a clash between North
and South Korea at Munhak Stadium. All games will aired be live on the
SCTV15 and ThethaoTV channels beginning at 5 p.m. Vietnamese time.
Coach Mai Duc Chung of Viet Nam still felt happy
about beating Thailand and said he knew his task would be extremely
difficult. “It’s an extremely tough match for us. Japan are the world
and Asian champions. They are at a much higher level than us,” Chung
added.
The coach, who has watched all of Japan’s games in this tournament, said his team would definitely play tough defence.
“We will cement our goal and wait for any
counter-attack from a team who are better than us in terms of skills,
physique and body form. Viet Nam will compete with Japan with only a
victory over Thailand behind them, which has made them excited,” he
revealed.
“I have asked them to give it their all for the
best possible result. My players are not scared of any rivals, including
Japan,” Chung added.
At a press briefing yesterday, coach Norio Sasaki
of Japan said Viet Nam had several excellent players. He expressed
appreciation for the Vietnamese defence, which worked well against
Thailand.
He also noticed that Viet Nam were in high
spirits following a big win. However, he said he would tell his team to
attack strongly to achieve victory.
In their last meeting in the Asian Cup at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCM City last May, Viet Nam lost, 0-4.
VNS/VNN