Football 

NGân Thị Vạn Sự (No 21) and her teammates celebrate their second goal in Việt Nam's 2-1 win over India in the AFC Women's Asian Cup. Photo courtesy of VFF

HÀ NỘI — Mai Đức Chung praised his players' tireless effort in Việt Nam's win over India, while forward Ngân Thị Vạn Sự credited her teammates after striking twice as Việt Nam edged India 2-1 in their Group C tie at the Perth Rectangular Stadium in Australia on Wednesday.

India replied through substitute Sanfida Nongrum. Her looping shot clipped Vietnamese goalkeeper Trần Thị Kim Thanh’s gloves before settling in the back of the net.

“The whole team delivered today. We fought with everything we had,” said Sự. “The coaching staff prepared the right tactics for us and we did our best to follow the game plan. I’m very proud of my teammates and the way we performed today.”

Việt Nam were tested after India equalised in the second half and the whole team struggled to find the back of the Blue Tigresses's net. Sự showed no panic but worked harder and ran faster while teammates motivated each other.

"We kept encouraging one another, gave our best and were able to score another goal. We’re very happy with that,” she said.

Coach Mai Đức Chung reacts during the match. Photo courtesy of AFC

Coach Chung was meanwhile pleased with his players, saying he never doubted their determination to push for the win.

“Although we conceded, we controlled possession for much of both halves,” said Chung. “We just didn’t convert that into a goal earlier. When they (India) equalised, I still had full confidence that we would score again and we found the winner.

“It was a balanced game between two teams. We are fortunate to take the win which is a big boost for us in this campaign. We trained hard during the holiday and didn’t have many opportunities to play competitive matches, so a win is very encouraging.”

The world’s oldest national team head coach also paid tribute to Vietnamese supporters whose roars helped players regain momentum and push for the winner.

“Today’s victory was very special and I want to thank our supporters who came to the stadium to cheer for the team. Their encouragement gave us extra motivation to keep pushing," he said.

“Even when we conceded, Vietnamese fans kept cheering and supporting us. They lifted our spirits and inspired us to fight on. That energy helped us open more attacks and find another goal.”

In the India squad, Amelia Valverde highlighted the positives from her side’s second-half performance.

"I’m very proud of the team,” she was quoted as saying on the-afc.com. “Emotions are still a bit unsettled right now but our first 30 minutes were not our best and they managed to score early. However, we settled ourselves in the second half and were able to get back on level terms."

“In many moments, I felt we were even better than them. In the end, we lost, which is disappointing but I’m very pleased with how the team progressed in the second half and how we improved as the match went on.

“I saw a team that ran hard for all 90 minutes. I didn’t see anyone showing signs of fatigue when some of our opponents were struggling with fitness at times.

“In the end, the (winning) goal we conceded came from an error on our part. There’s a lot to learn from this game, particularly about staying attentive in key moments. We will take these lessons forward and continue to improve as we move ahead in the tournament.”

Earlier, powerhouse Japan topped the group with a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei. They will next play India while Việt Nam will face Chinese Taipei in the second matchday on March 7. — VNS