Vietnam and Thailand have made the cut for the semi-finals of the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship 2018 in Bangkok.
Vietnam overcame a resilient Indonesian side 2-1 while Thailand cruised past Chinese Taipei in their respective quarter-final matches.
Nguyen Thi Hue scored the winner for Vietnam three minutes to the end after Bui Thi Trang lead in the 13th minute was cancelled out by Indonesia’s Febriana four minutes after the restart.
“Before the game I studied our opponents very thoroughly and I knew that their first set (of four players) were very strong so we tried to reduce their power. I congratulate my players because they played very bravely and they played with tactical discipline,” said Vietnam head coach Truong Quoc Tran.
“It was a very tight game. We’re very sad about this result. I told the players about Vietnam’s style of play and their counter-attack. I think the players were not quite able to apply the instructions regarding the counter-attack. Overall, we drew Thailand and we aimed for a further target but unfortunately we lost. I believe overall it has been a positive performance. This is our first AFC competition and I think it’s a good experience for the players,” said Indonesian head coach Kensuke Takahashi.
In the meantime, Thailand powered past Chinese Taipei 6-1 with goals from Darika Peanpailun in the 17th minute Sasicha Phothiwong (22nd minute), Jiraprapa Tupsuri (23d) and Sawitree Mamyalee (33rd, 34th and 39th).
Chinese Taipei’s only goal of the game came off captain Chen Pin-Hui in the 19th minute.
“We reached our target, today, and I’d like to thank my players for today’s effort. Next up it’s a big challenge (against Japan) so we’ll try more. We beat Japan 3-1 last time in the Asian Indoor Games (gold medal match), so we must try first to control the game, but we have already prepared for other tactics,” said Thailand head coach Udom Taveesuk.
In the semi-finals later today, Vietnam will take on Iran while Thailand will play Japan.
