Mai Lan (L) fights for the ball against an Australian defender in Monday’s ASEAN Football Federation Championship 2008 at HCMC’s Thanh Long Stadium. (PHOTO BY KHA KHOA)

The Vietnamese women lost 1-0 to Australia on an agonizing own goal in the finals of the ASEAN Football Federation Championship 2008 held at Ho Chi Minh City’s Thanh Long Stadium Monday.

The hard-fought battle serves as a necessary stepping stone for the Vietnamese players in their quest to gradually catch up to topnotch international competition.

Playing against the stronger Australian women, the home team made many positional mistakes and moved the ball lethargically.

However, the opposition did not fare much better and the Vietnamese women could have created more scoring chances if head coach Chen Yun Fat had scrapped the counterattacking strategy and focused on more attacks.

It was a good lesson for the home team as a more aggressive approach next time may exploit some inherent weaknesses in the decidedly favored squad.

“I am pleased with my players’ performance today as they fought tough,” coach Fat said. “It is a pity we lost due to an own goal, but we had a successful tournament despite not coming out on top at the end.”

However, it is due time Vietnamese players begin to set higher targets instead of settling for victories over other countries in the Southeast Asia region.

“I expected a hard battle for my players and my prediction turned true,” Australia’s head coach Alistair Edwards said. “The Vietnamese footballers played well and stopped all of our attacks. I believe Vietnamese women football will improve by leaps and bounds in the near future.”

Reported by Thanh Thao