Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Ho Chi Minh City: Vietnam coach Chen Yun Fa admitted that the pressure of claiming a first-ever appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in front of their home fans was too great for his players as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat in their AFC Women’s Asian Cup fifth place play-off to Thailand on Wednesday.
In front of a capacity crowd at Ho Chi Minh City’s Thong Nhat Stadium, who had arrived in the expectation of a Vietnam victory and with it a ticket for their national team to next year’s World Cup in Canada, Chen’s side had a disjointed and nervy first-half showing against a Thailand team that seemed unaffected by the partisan supporters who filled the stands.
A goal just two minutes into the second-half by Thailand Kanjana Sung-Ngeon exacerbated the tension in the stands and the forward got her second 17 minutes later which proved a deficit to great to claw back for the hosts, despite an 85th minute goal from Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tuyet that threatened a comeback that never came.
“Playing at home front of so many people, family and friends with the biggest chance they have ever had of getting to the World Cup became an unbearable pressure and burden on my players,” said coach Chen.
“We couldn’t show a lot of the ability and quality we have as the players were under such great stress to win this game and it affected the players’ mentality.
“The early goal in the second minute of the second half, when three of our players failed to block the Thailand striker, made that pressure even worse and eventually it was too much against a very experienced Thailand team who played better than us today.”
Thailand, who also beat Vietnam for the gold medal of the 2013 Southeast Asian games in December, continue to have the better of the regional rivalry and Chen admitted that this is becoming a growing trend.
“Thailand is a very familiar opponent for Vietnam and although Vietnam used to have a certain advantage over them since 2010 Thailand has had the upper hand in tactics, technique and strategy,” added the coach whose contract with the Vietnam women’s team expires next month.
“Looking at this tournament now, we can see we have a lot to learn from it. We have to improve on mentality and strategy, particularly. It’s not only words but we have to put it into action, too.
“Although my contract with the VFF expires this June, so I may not continue to work in my current role , we will work together to see what we can do for the women’s game.”