Vietnam win AFC Women’s Cup opener

Captain Nguyen Thi Muon opened the scoring in the 18^th minitue with a free kick on the right wing, but Jordan earned an equalizer just seven munites later through striker Maysa Ziad Mahmoud Jbarah, who curled a wonderful kick into the high far corner of the net.

Le Thu Thanh Huong put Vietnam ahead with a close range header before she scored her second, looping the ball over the goalkeeper Zina Ismail Suleiman Al Sadi.

The win is an important step for the Vietnamese team in their bid to win a ticket to the World Cup next year. For Jordan, the same task has become much more difficult.

Both Vietnam and Jordan will face World Champions Japan and Asian champions Australia in the next two games.

“Both teams played very well and displayed an attacking game. Jordan’s players showed how good they are by causing a lot of difficulties for us,” Vietnam’s Chinese coach Chen Yun Fat said at the post-match press conference.

“We created a lot of chances today but were not good at capitalizing on them. We need to improve this in the next games but overall I am happy with the result because our play under a lot of pressure in the opening game that they had no choice but to win,” he added.

Jordan’s Japanese coach Okiyama Masahiko expressed high appreciation for his players’ performance and insisted that his team still has a chance to vie for the World Cup ticket.

“I don’t want to make excuses but our playing style is different from Vietnam. Moreover, the pitch is a little bit slippery,” Okiyama said.

“We were encouraged in the second half and were able to keep the ball and do some passing but the attacks were not good enough to score goals. We still have chances and we will not give up,” the Japanese coach said.

In the later match, Japan and Australia drew 2-2.

Group B matches will take place today at the same venue, with the Republic of Korea taking on Myanmar and China facing Thailand.