Vietnam women's national team lost to China, coach Mai Duc Chung revealed shock before the 2026 Asian Cup

Despite losing 0-2 to the Chinese women's team in a friendly match in Shenzhen, coach Mai Duc Chung still appreciates the competitive spirit of his students and considers this an important preparation step for the 2026 Asian Cup journey.

After the friendly match with the Chinese women's team took place on the evening of February 10 in Shenzhen, coach Mai Duc Chung had very frank but positive assessments of the performance of the Vietnamese women's team, and affirmed that this series of friction matches has important professional significance in the preparation for the 2026 Asian Cup.

Despite losing with a score of 0-2, the veteran leader said that the result was not the most worrying, because the more important thing was that the team had the opportunity to collide with the top opponent in Asia. "We have two matches against the Chinese women's team. These are very good rubs," coach Mai Duc Chung shared after the match. According to him, playing against a strong team like China helps players better recognize their strengths and weaknesses so that they can adjust and perfect their gameplay.

Analyzing the match specifically, coach Mai Duc Chung said that the Vietnamese women's team still lacks the necessary cohesion, the reason comes from the lack of many quality matches to "sharpen" the squad. "We lost 0-2 but the spirit of the whole team is very good. Through this match, the coaching staff will learn from experience to supplement and complete the squad.

In the first half, we did not play well, maybe because the team had only two practice matches against Uzbekistan before, so the level of perfection was not high. When we meet a strong opponent like China, we realize many problems to adjust," he said. According to coach Mai Duc Chung, when facing a team with outstanding physical strength, stature and tactical skills, the limitations of the Vietnamese women's team are clearly revealed, but it is also essential for long-term development.

The point that makes coach Mai Duc Chung most satisfied is not in the score, but in the competitive spirit of the students. "I'm satisfied with the team's spirit. Despite being limited in physical strength, stature and strength compared to their opponents, the players showed resilience and effort. We lost but I am still satisfied with the efforts of the students," he emphasized. Determination, not giving in to pressure from strong opponents is considered an important foundation for the Vietnamese women's team to aim for bigger goals at the 2026 Asian Cup.

Talking about the opponent, coach Mai Duc Chung has special respect for the Chinese women's team. "The Chinese women's team is one of the top teams in Asia, on par with Japan, South Korea and Australia. So when we only lost 0-2 to such an opponent, I can appreciate the spirit and effort of the whole team," he shared.

In fact, the Chinese women's team possesses a very uniform force, strong in terms of fitness, speed and technique. In 2025, coach Ante Milicic has had many quality friendly and international matches, winning Taiwan with scores of 4-0 and 4-1, winning Uzbekistan 5-0, winning Thailand 5-1, drawing Japan 0-0, drawing South Korea 2-2 and drawing Canada 1-1 – the team that won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Therefore, coach Mai Duc Chung believes that the Vietnamese women's team will learn a lot from friendly matches like this. Those memories make the coaching staff even more determined to prepare more thoroughly for the 2026 Asian Cup.

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