What to expect from the Vietnamese golden girls at the Women’s World Cup?
For many years, Vietnamese football fans have talked about the World Cup dream. Countless amount of investments have been poured into domestic clubs and the national teams with the hope that we would one day see our nation’s flag flying high at the world’s biggest stage. With a golden generation in our hands, Vietnam made their debut at a U20 World Cup in 2017. Though not officially the World Cup that we had dreamt about, it showed progress have been made and that generation have went on to be the pride of the entire country.
But, that is the story of men’s football in Vietnam. Women’s football has never been in the spotlight and many local fans seem to ignore what was happening in that ecosystem. That is until the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup in India, where our golden girls defied the odds to secure a place at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Now, the attention is on them and many stories have been told about how our girls got to that moment against Chinese Taipei in India. From their upbringings, how they got into football, to stories of determination and grit that our girls have been through throughout their careers.
I highly recommend a video from Maqwell, who has done a great job covering some of the players’ story and how they got to where they are today.
But, for now, we will only be diving into the tactical side of the team, into how our girls will play against the competition’s toughest opponents. Even though the team have received international attention, the work that have been done on them are very limited, partially because of limited coverage outside of Vietnam. So, let us change that, and provide a good insight into the tactics of the Vietnam women’s national team ahead of their debut World Cup campaign in New Zealand.
The shape
Since the golden era where Park Hang-seo led the men’s national team to a number of memorable victories and achievements, Vietnam have always played in a 5–3–2 system both in and out of possession. This is no difference for the women’s national team under the management of the godfather of Vietnam women’s football Mai Đức Chung.
On paper, the team’s in possession shape looks similar to a 5–3–2, but there are a few differences compared to the men’s 5–3–2 shape. In order to capitalise Huỳnh Như’s abilities, she is moved into a number 10 (attacking midfielder) role right behind the main striker Phạm Hải Yến. In that role, Như can drop deep to receive the ball, bring the ball forward through her passing and/or dribbling abilities, and be the link between the midfielders and the forwards up front, alongside being the team’s main goal threat.
The two wide midfielders, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Nhã and Nguyễn Thị Bích Thùy, operate as actual wide midfielders, rather than as two outside central midfielders who have the tendency to move into the half-spaces or wide spaces. Both are very quick on the ball, which will play a crucial role in Vietnam’s counter-attacking style of play. At the heart of the midfield is Dương Thị Vân (who we will talk more about later on), who plays in a deeper position and as the team’s number 6 (defensive midfielder).
Because of these differences, it can be assumed that the team’s in possession shape looks very similar to a 5–4–1 with a wide midfield diamond, rather than a traditional 5–3–2.
Because there will be a separate section for the out of possession phase, I will only go briefly into the shape and why the shape fits how Vietnam women wants to defend. When the team are not controlling possession, they retreat back into a 5–4–1 shape with Dương Thị Vân and Huỳnh Như forming a flat central midfielder pairing, while the rest of the team stay relatively the same to their in possession shape.
Having played, and will be playing, against the world’s best women teams in both the Asian Cup and the World Cup, it is understandable that Vietnam will be under immense attacking pressure. With how modern football has evolved, most teams usually attack with four or five players, or sometimes, six players (two overlapping full-backs + two to four attackers). This shape allows Vietnam to, at least, match the number of opposition’s attacking players and attempt to guide the opposition to areas where our players can regain possession.
The defence
As one of the tournament’s underdogs, there is a level of expectation that Vietnam will have to defend in most, if not all, of the matches that they play. This will not be the first time that they will be in this situation, however. At the 2022 Asian Cup, they have played against three of the best four Asian women’s teams in Japan, South Korea, and China. In all three matches, they never managed to control the ball for more than 30% of the match’s time (according to Aiscore). Because of this, it is important to focus on how Vietnam will play out of possession before discussing about how the golden girls will play with the ball.
As mentioned above, the team will defend in a 5–4–1 shape to allow for better coverage in the wide spaces while also having enough numbers to defend the central area and the far post. There are no signs that the team will move away from this shape in both viewable friendlies against Germany and New Zealand.
When they lose the ball, the players look to retreat into this shape and start defending from the middle third into their own defensive third. There is very little intention to press the opposition high up the pitch as it will leave them very vulnerable at the back against players who have higher technical ability. All of the mentioned opponents, and Vietnam’s women upcoming opponents in the USA and the Netherlands, are all capable of playing out from the back very well, which means it is almost impossible to regain control of the ball from them inside their own half. By retreating back and creating a mid or low block to defend, the team will stand a better chance of winning the ball back and hit the opposition on a counter-attack.
The choice of a 5–4–1 out of possession shape is deliberate as the intention is to guide the opposition out wide when they are building their attacks. The central players, Dương Thị Vân, Huỳnh Như, and Hải Yến, take up positions where they can shadow mark the opposition’s players who are also occupying a central position. When the ball is passed to an opposition’s central player, the Vietnamese players have the responsibility to put pressure on the ball carrier and force them to pass the ball back to the centre-backs, allowing Vietnam to restart the process.
Now, why does the team stand a chance of winning the ball back in a mid/low block, you might ask? Well, they might be able to do so thanks to a little thing call “overloads”, and this will be done after successfully guiding the opposition out wide. At times, it is not technically an overload, it is more the team commit more players to one side of the pitch in an attempt to match the opposition’s attacking numbers. Because the opposition is always going to have the physical advantage over the Vietnamese girls, having numerical superiority in the wide areas can help the players disrupt the opposition’s attacking ideas and allow them to intercept passes.
At the back, besides from the full-backs being asked to follow the opposition’s wide players, the outside centre-backs are also asked to mark the attackers and follow them up to Vietnam’s midfield line. Because there is a lack of support from a traditional defensive midfielder, the gap in between Vietnam’s defensive lines tend to be quite significant. This tends to invite creative players or attacking midfielders to move into that space to receive line-breaking passes from the centre-backs.
By having a centre-back following the player who is moving into that space, Vietnam can potentially put pressure on them to a back pass or commit a foul to disrupt the attacking flow, while still having four players at the back. This strategy requires good understanding and coordination from the defenders and midfielders as they need to know when and where a teammate is stepping out of position in order to cover them and fill into their position. But, this is where the problems start.
Against teams who are tactically dominant, this is the aspect where they exploit the most to enter Vietnam’s defensive third. When a Vietnamese centre-back decides to move with an opposition’s attacking player and they do not receive cover from teammates around, usually they will leave behind a significant gap that the opposition’s full-back or winger can move into. From here, that wide player can easily receive the pass over the top of Vietnam’s defensive block from the ball-carrying centre-back. Examples of centre-backs who made the most of this problem are Japan’s Saki Kumagai in last year’s Asian Cup clash between the two teams or New Zealand’s Rebekah Stott in Vietnam’s second-to-last friendly ahead of the World Cup.
Another problem that the Vietnamese women have is that the opposition does not usually attack down the wide space like they would hope for, but rather aiming for the half-space or the central area more often. Using strategies like the third-man run (two players passing the ball among each other while a third player makes an off-ball run to receive the final pass), the opposition can easily exploit spaces either in between or in behind Vietnam’s defensive lines to continue their attack. This tends to put the opposition’s full-back or winger in a position where they can be free to make a cross towards the far post or even make a shot from out wide.
The two problems above are tightly linked with each other, which exaggerate each other even more. Because the opposition know that the space in between Vietnam’s defensive lines are significant, they will be targeting that area more often by having players moving into that area. This drags one of Vietnam’s centre-backs out of their position and, without coverage or support, they leave behind a significant gap that the opposition can exploit to get into the final third, leading to a successful attack for the opposing team.
Crosses are another problem that Vietnam have to deal with, particularly because of the height disadvantage. Because the team have the tendency to commit many players to one side of the pitch, they usually only have two or three players defending the far post, which makes defending crosses harder. Against New Zealand, the Vietnamese girls had a difficult time marking Hannah Wilkinson, who is 1.77m (or 5'10") tall. This problem is caused by a physicality disadvantage, which cannot be fixed in the short-term. But a possible solution is they can limit the number of crosses into the box by putting pressure on the full-back or winger who are capable of making crosses. Stopping the problem at source seems to be the best solution for this problem.
Even though there is an idea behind how Vietnam will defend against much stronger oppositions at the World Cup, they would still be facing an impossible task of stopping the likes of Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Lieke Martens, or Danielle van der Donk. Their 5–4–1 defensive shape will, hopefully, help ease the burden even for a little bit. And nothing is ever impossible, which means it is time to talk about how Vietnam can create a surprise against the finalists of the 2019 version of the competition.
The attack
For Vietnam, adopting a possession-based style of play against some of the best teams in the world is a very risky thing to do because, once again, the opposition is more tactically dominant. They have shown a glimpse of how dangerous this is against New Zealand, where they tried to play out from the back on a few occasions, only ending up clearing the ball to New Zealand’s centre-backs or losing the ball inside their own half.
Because the opposing team will press very aggressively, overwhelm the Vietnamese girls, and they lack the technical ability to bypass the press, it is more likely for the opposition to win the ball inside Vietnam’s final third than Vietnam successfully creating an attack. Those are some of the main reasons why coach Chung chose to play with a counter-attacking style where they will rely on the pace of the attackers.
On a few instances where they do manage to bypass the press or from a long goal-kick by goalkeeper Trần Thị Kim Thanh, the players will look to play the ball long over the top of the opposition’s last defensive line. Usually the target will be Hải Yến, who can roam from her position to receive the long ball, hold the ball until a few players move forward to provide support, then continue the attack.
The wide players are also very crucial in Vietnam’s attack as Thanh Nhã and Bích Thùy can dribble down the wing and send a hopeful cross into the box for the midfielders and strikers. They can also come inside and become a goal-scoring option should they receive a through ball or be at the end of a cross. Thanh Nhã herself can also play as the striker up front, as shown in the second half against Germany. She is quick on and off the ball to exploit the tired defenders, and her finishing has improved significantly in the past couple of years to the point where she managed to score Vietnam’s only goal in their friendly match against Germany. Not bad for a girl who used to cry right on the pitch after missing a one-on-one opportunity against U16 Uzbekistan in 2016.
However, do not expect the Vietnamese girls to create any good goal-scoring chances (or chances with a high expected goals value for data nerds, like me). Because chances come by very rarely for the team, they tend to make a shot wherever possible. This can lead to outrageous goals from outside of the box or the shot heading into the stands. Hey, at least one outcome is better than the other, right?
Let’s be honest. Even one goal at the World Cup is already a dream that feels a little bit out of reach. But it is the goal that the team are working very hard to achieve, because a single goal at the World Cup will be priceless for these girls, who have sacrificed so many things to be at the world’s biggest stage. It will create a memorable moment not just for these girls, but also for the entire country and many Vietnamese football followers abroad. Bring home that goal girls!
The key players
We cannot talk about how the team play without talking about the players. Because I have seen so many publishers pick Huỳnh Như as Vietnam’s key player/one to watch, let’s do something different. Below are three players who, according to me, will play a very important role in Vietnam’s debut campaign in the World Cup.
There will be other players who deserve a honourable mention like striker Phạm Hải Yến, midfield duo Nguyễn Thị Bích Thùy and Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung, defenders Hoàng Thị Loan and Trần Thị Thu Thảo. That’s not mentioning the stalwart defender Chương Thị Kiều, who might have fitness issues that will prevent her from starting most of the matches. At the end of the day, this group of players is a team, and most importantly, a family. There are no player who stands out more than the others, but the three players below that I pick are the players who will surprise most of the tournament’s followers.
Trần Thị Kim Thanh — Goalkeeper
For a team who is expected to be under constant pressure from the opposition, the goalkeeper will prove to be the most important player as she is directly keeping the team in the game with her saves. And the same can be said for Kim Thanh, who has proven to be a very important figure in between the sticks for Vietnam.
Her importance can be showed just by looking at the number of saves that she made at the 2022 Asian Cup and two of Vietnam’s friendlies before this World Cup. In 6 matches at the Asian Cup, Kim Thanh made a total of 27 saves, averaging 4.5 saves a match. She then went on to make another 15 saves against Germany and New Zealand to keep the score in both friendlies respectable.
I have never been a person who sees the number of saves made as a measurement to determine a good goalkeeper because it relies on whether a team is seen as the favourite or not and whether the defence of that team is good or not. But in Kim Thanh’s case, she has to play in front of a defence that has physical disadvantage to the opposition’s attacking players, which means she will be facing a lot of shots and the task to prevent a humiliation (just like against Spain in Vietnam’s last friendly). The more saves she makes, the closer Vietnam will be to not be humiliated at the World Cup, which is the main reason why I choose Kim Thanh as a player to watch.
Kim Thanh will also play an important role in Vietnam’s attack as she is the main distributor from goal-kicks. Her long passes will give the attackers a chance to hit the opposition on a counter-attack or clearing the pressure for the defenders to regroup. At the biggest stage, any small advantage counts and her distribution can help Vietnam edge closer to the dream of scoring a historic goal.
Dương Thị Vân — Midfielder
Many Vietnamese fans like to say ‘30% of the world is covered by water, the remaining 70% is covered by Dương Thị Vân’. In a midfield where most players are offensive-minded, Vân provides the defensive stability through her hard-working attitude and willingness to involve in any kind of defensive duels even though physicality is not her biggest strength. She appears at almost every area inside Vietnam’s half where the ball is contested to provide support for her teammates or directly pressure the ball carrier to clear the ball and allow her teammates to regroup. She also does not shy away from making crucial tackles to halt the opposition’s attacking flow, which will be a key factor when Vietnam comes up against the USA and the Netherlands.
While Vietnam have no shortage of creative players, Vân still plays an important role in linking the defenders with the attackers. She has the tendency to drop deep to receive the ball from the centre-backs, then either lay it off to Huỳnh Như or make long passes into the running direction of Hải Yến, Thanh Nhã, or Bích Thùy. Her long passes over the top of the opposition’s defensive line can help start a rare counter-attacking situation that might end up with a dangerous chance for Vietnam.
From only a bench option at the 2022 Asian Cup, Vân has come a long way to now becoming one of the first options in Vietnam’s midfield. Her hard-working and determined attitude has brought her to where she is at this moment. Now, she will be going up against the world’s best midfielders and attackers, challenging them for every moment that they control the ball.
Nguyễn Thị Thanh Nhã — Midfielder/Forward
So many things have been said about Vietnam women’s latest phenomenon in Thanh Nhã. Since her rise to fame in 2022, she has never looked back and continues to create surprise after surprise for the national team. A pacey winger who can play also play as a forward, she is a player to pay attention to whenever Vietnam is on a counter-attack. She is confident on the ball and can take on the opposition’s defenders even though, similar to other players in the squad, she does not have the best physicality.
She will not be the main goal threat like Huỳnh Như or Hải Yến, but she is a surprising package as she can show up anywhere in the final third to receive the ball and score, similar to her goal in the final against Myanmar at the 2023 SEA Games. Because of that surprise factor that Vietnam can count on her in their quest to find the historic goal for the country. There are still a lot of rooms to improve for Thanh Nhã, including her ability to contribute to the defensive side of the game, but at 23, she will be learning a whole lot by going up against world-class wingers like Megan Rapinoe or Lieke Martens.
Conclusion
No one expect Vietnam to cause any surprise in New Zealand, that is the fact. As one of the tournament’s debutants and being drawn into one of the toughest groups possible, that puts the Vietnamese girls into an underdog situation. But because of that, there is no pressure on them entering the tournament, and they can absolutely use that to their advantage.
The golden girls have already done the country proud by qualifying for the World Cup. So, without pressure on their shoulders, the ultimate dream that they will be chasing is a historic goal at the world’s biggest stage, and anything else is just the cherry on top. With their determination and a hard-working attitude, they will give it their all to make that dream a reality.
Originally published at https://talkingtactics.substack.com.
