The Portugal women’s football team is required to beat Vietnam on Thursday in a rookie clash if they still want to qualify for the “eighth place” Mundial2023, in the Group E second round game scheduled for Hamilton.
At the same New Zealand stage where just over five months ago on 22 February they ended their historic qualification with a 2-1 win over Cameroon, Portugal needs a similar result after a 1-0 debut loss to the Netherlands.
The clash with Vietnam is between teams that are playing in the World Cup for the first time and both reach the second round without points or goals scored as the Asians lost 3-0 to the United States.
Portugal, 11 positions above the Vietnamese in the FIFA “ranking” (21st compared to 32nd), looks like a clear favorite, but they will have to be very careful, given the speed, determination and will of the Vietnamese.
Having lost his debut and faced a completely different opponent, Francisco Neto will surely “replace” the “eleven”, and almost certainly due to injury, midfielder Fatima Pinto, who left complaining about his right knee against the Dutch, should not be subordinate to the Portuguese coach.
If this situation is confirmed, the Portuguese coach will be required to change squads from the start, with young striker Kika Nazareth, 20, coming on as a substitute after he first jumped off the bench in a game that marked Portugal’s all-out World Cup debut.
Young Madeira striker Telma Encarnação, who got off to a very good start against the Netherlands, including Portugal’s only dangerous strike of the entire game, is also a candidate for an “eleven”, which could come at the expense of Diana Silva.
In the most backward sector, there is also the possibility that Francisco Neto will make changes and Joana Marchao could appear from the left to give more attacking depth to the Portuguese formation being left-handed.
As usual, the Portuguese coach saves his choice very close to the playing time, and even when “eleven” is called, it is always unknown how the “chips” will be distributed by the “board”.
Against the Dutch on Sunday, the Portuguese started in a 3-5-2 formation with three centre-backs, “copying” the opposition’s formation, and without making any substitutions, changed the team to 4-4-2 early in the second half.
On Thursday at 19:30 local time (8:30 a.m. in Lisbon), the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton will host the first-ever game between the main women’s soccer teams of Portugal and Vietnam from the second round of Group E of the 2023 World Cup.
To continue the race in the 1/8 finals, the prize for the first two players in each group, Francisco Neto’s wards need to beat the Asians.
Earlier, at 13:00 local time (02:00 Lisbon), in Wellington, the United States faced the Netherlands in a replay of the 2019 final, followed by the victory of the North Americans, who won 2-0, becoming two-time world champions.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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