USA vs Vietnam exposes chasm between teams at World Cup – 07/20/2023 – Sport

When Vietnam formed its first women’s soccer team in 1997, the United States had already played in two World Cups, with a title in the 1990 edition and a third place in the 1995 dispute.

As in many parts of the world, the modality has always been seen as a game for men in the Southeast Asian country. Something that only started to change —although still slowly—, eight years after the recreation of the Vietnamese Football Federation, in 1989.

The entity emerged 16 years after the end of the Vietnam War, which lasted almost two decades and caused the death of more than 1 million people. Officially, the end of the conflict was declared on January 27, 1973, the year in which the Paris Peace Agreement was signed, which determined the withdrawal of US troops.

A quarter of a century since its inception, the Vietnamese women’s team is one of 32 competing at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The nation is in Group E and debuts this Friday (21), at 22:00 (Brasília time), against the United States, in Auckland. SporTV, Cazé TV and Fifa+ show the game.

While Vietnam is one of the newcomers in this edition, alongside Panama, Portugal, Morocco, Philippines, Ireland, Haiti and Zambia, their first-round opponent is favorites to win the World Cup for the fifth time, the third in a row.

The participation of new countries was part of the promise made by Fifa (International Football Federation) in 2019, when the organization announced that this year’s edition would be the first with 32 teams.

The entity’s idea is that the visibility offered by the Cup can boost the development of women’s football in more locations, even if some games can expose great technical differences.

Vietnam took great satisfaction in qualifying for the World Cup ahead of Thailand, the country’s biggest regional rival. However, it will carry into the tournament the mission of avoiding a fiasco as big as the 13-0 defeat of the Thais to the North Americans in the group stage of the 2019 World Cup.

On that occasion, striker Alex Morgan scored five goals. At the age of 34, she is still one of the references of the team that is looking for the fifth cup.

“We don’t have big ambitions, but during this tournament we can learn a lot,” acknowledged Vietnam coach Mai Duc Chung. “We have to be mentally strong.”

The fear of a rout in the first match does not shake the pride of the Vietnamese players, who, just by playing in the competition, have already achieved something that the men’s team has never achieved. Overcoming obstacles is an even greater proof of strength considering that most players reconcile the sport with other work to support themselves.

For them, it will be essential that FIFA fulfills its promise to reward each athlete in this World Cup with at least U$ 30 thousand (R$ 143 thousand). The value may be higher as each team advances in the Cup and is part of the US$ 150 million (R$ 719 million) that the entity announced in prizes for the competition.

In addition to the award, the international federation committed to organizing more women’s competitions with the aim of developing the sport around the world. For now, there has only been the announcement of the creation of a Women’s Club World Cup, but there are still no further details about the tournament.

An extensive report by FIFPRO, the international union of football players, published in June, points out that the absence of elite competitions, both for national teams and clubs, as well as the lack of minimum standards in the classification of countries for the World Cup, can be decisive for major technical differences in the tournament held in Oceania.

Before presenting the conclusions, the study states that even for FIFPRO it was difficult to obtain data from certain players and competitions due to the lack of official records.

According to the entity, the research was carried out with 362 players, heard digitally and anonymously. All were asked about their experiences playing in the Qualifiers over the past 18 months. They answered questions about areas such as health, safety and general conditions.

Among the main discoveries, the following stand out: 54% did not undergo any medical examination before the World Cup; 66% said their national team’s recovery facilities were not of a high standard; and 70% said gym facilities were not elite.

FIFPRO also highlights the different classification formats for the Cup with “multiple inconsistencies in programming, duration, format and conditions between tournaments”.

According to the study, only UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) has an independent classification. At Conmebol (South American Football Confederation), this process took place through the Copa América, which also resulted in qualification for the Paris Olympic Games.

For other nations, this process took place through the Asian Cup, the African Cup of Nations, CONCACAF W and the OFC Nations Cup.

FIFPRO President David Aganzo criticized the different formats. “For the World Cup to be a truly elite global event, the Qualifiers must also be of a high standard,” he said.

“It is vital to provide female gamers in all parts of the world with conditions and opportunities that provide the best platform for them on the world stage so that they and the game can flourish everywhere.”