National team to fight with spirit of Vietnamese women: head coach

“I haven’t received the test results of 14 players. If the worst happens, we will not have enough players to field. Even when we have enough, it’s hard for them to perform well after 10 days without training. However, we will play at our 100-percent best since Vietnamese women’s spirit is resilient and tenacious,” Chung told the pre-match conference Thursday.

During the training period in Spain, 14 Vietnam players got Covid-19. After treatment, their test results came out negative Wednesday and they flew to Pune, India. They will have to be tested again before the game.

If the result is negative, the players will be eligible to play South Korea, but if it’s positive, Vietnam won’t have enough players for the game and the team will lose 0-3 by default.

After South Korea, Vietnam will play Japan on Jan. 24 and Myanmar on Jan. 27.

“Vietnam are in a tough group with really strong opponents. But all team members will try to maintain high determination. We will put unfortunate things aside and get through the challenges together,” Chung added.

Women’s Asian Cup 2022 will take place from Jan. 20 to Feb. 6 in India with 12 participating teams. It serves as the final stage of qualification for Women’s World Cup 2023, with the top five teams of the tournament qualifying directly.