Việt Nam come from behind to beat the Philippines in women's football
HÀ NỘI Việt Nam had to come from a goal down to beat the Philippines 2-1 in their opening Group A match of the SEA Games 31 in Cẩm Phả Stadium, Quảng Ninh Province yesterday.
Captain Tahnai Annis opened the scoring for the visitors before Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung and Nguyễn Thị Thùy Trang pushed the hosts out in front.
The win was the perfect start for coach Mai Đức Chung and his women on their journey to not only defending their title, but setting a new record in Southeast Asia.
The match could also be considered a ‘final’ of the group, as the result would decide who goes top in Group A.
It was even more competitive given both teams have qualified for the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Despite being the visitors, the Philippines went on the attack from the beginning. Việt Nam's goalkeeper Kim Thanh narrowly saved a goal from a Filipino’s counter-attack just seven minutes into the game.
Five minutes later, captain Huỳnh Như escaped from Filipino defenders to get the ball from midfielder Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung, and made a dangerous run near the box. However, her right-foot finish went wide.
Malea Cesar caught the ball thanks to a miss-pass from captain Huỳnh Như.
One long pass later the ball was floating above the box, where the head of Annis awaited. She rose higher than all three challenging Vietnamese players and planted the ball in the top left corner.
Thanh stretched to her full limit but could not turn the ball away.
The Philippines, made up of several naturalised players, wheeled away in celebration, but it was not to last long.
Như, Dung and midfielder Nguyễn Thị Bích Thùy took turns testing keeper Olivia McDaniel’s skills.
In the 38th minute, Dung, surrounded by two Filipinos, turned the ball and got a shot away, which slipped through a gap between Mcdaniel and two other defenders to reach the net.
Five minutes after the interval, the hosts made it 2-1. Trang received the ball in the box and she made no mistake in putting it in the net.
Ahead now, Việt Nam continued to dominate the match,
forcing the taller and larger Filipinos to work hard to keep the ball out of their own box. In response, they could only resort to high balls, though none came to fruition.
In the first match, the Philip
pines beat Cambodia 5-0 three days ago.
Việt Nam will play Cambodia on May 14.
The two top teams in the group will advance to the knockout stage. VNS
The match could also be considered a ‘final’ of the group, as the result would decide who goes top in Group A.