The Vietnamese national women's football team celebrate beating Myanmar in the semi-finals. They are ready to face Thailand in the final on May 21. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Linh
Thanh Nga
QUẢNG NINH — The Vietnamese national women's football team are ready to set a record of winning three SEA Games titles in a row.
On May 21, the team will face Thailand in the final of SEA Games 31. This is the sixth time in a row that Việt Nam has competed for the gold medal in women's football at the SEA Games with Thailand.
"Việt Nam team are looking forward to setting a record of three consecutive championships. To prepare for the final, we try to have the strongest force. Vietnamese players, despite their physical limitations, have ingenuity and agility. Hopefully, in the upcoming match, Việt Nam will continue to receive such great love from the fans," said head coach Mai Đức Chung.
The clash between Việt Nam and Thailand is expected to attract many fans as they are the top teams in the region.
Thailand didn't have good results against Việt Nam at the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup and lost the ticket to the 2023 Women's World Cup, so they are determined to reclaim the bragging rights in this match.
Coach Miyo Okamoto of the Thai team said that the SEA Games event was fierce with many strong teams. His team have failed many times in the previous tournaments, so the whole team will make every effort to take the gold medal at this year's Games.
Okamoto said: "So far, we have handled every match in the Games well to get to the final match. Thailand lost to Việt Nam for a place in the 2023 Women's World Cup, so we will do our best to win this game."
Before the final, the Vietnamese women's team received more motivation after the Việt Nam Football Federation awarded them VNĐ800 million. The hosts Quảng Ninh Province and sponsors also awarded total VNĐ500 million.
The final will take place at 7pm at Cẩm Phả Stadium in the northern province of Quảng Ninh. Meanwhile, the match for the bronze between the Philippines and Myanmar will start at 3.30pm.
The two teams will play extra time if the final is tied in official time.
For the third-place match, if the result is a draw after 90 minutes, there will be a penalty shootout.
This format will help draw attention to the final match, between the two top teams in Southeast Asia. In the semi-finals, while the Thai team beat the Philippines 3-0, Việt Nam only beat Myanmar 1-0. However, this alone is not enough to fully evaluate the strength of the two teams. — VNS
OVietnam