Focus on each game
In Group E of the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese women's team (ranked 37th in the world ) will compete with Guam (ranked 97th in the world), UAE (ranked 117th in the world) and Maldives (ranked 163rd in the world) in a round-robin format, with only the top team in the group qualifying for the finals, along with host Australia and the three teams with the highest achievements from the 2022 season: China, Japan and South Korea.
Coach Mai Duc Chung and his team will have the advantage when playing against opponents ranked from low to high, respectively Maldives (June 29), UAE (July 2) and Guam (July 5). In terms of ranking and strength, the "Diamond Girls" are superior to their opponents, not to mention they will play at home stadium Viet Tri - where Huynh Nhu and her teammates won the 31st SEA Games championship.
However, with each group only having one top team to participate in the final round, the team cannot be subjective and underestimate the opponent, but must focus on gaining maximum points through each match.
Among the three opponents in Group E, the UAE women's team is expected to pose the most difficulty for the Vietnamese women's team. The UAE is the team that arrived in Vietnam the earliest to have time to get used to the weather conditions and training ground in Viet Tri. Coach Vera Pauw brought to Vietnam this time many key players from Abu Dhabi Country Club, the number 1 team in this country that faced Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club in the quarterfinals of the recent Asian Women's Club Championship.
The UAE team this time has the participation of many naturalized players from England or America such as Elizabeth Forshaw, Mia Lindborg or Ava Steven... promising to create a difference in the way the representative from West Asia plays. This shows the great determination of coach Vera Pauw and his team to be ready to compete for the only ticket to continue in Group E with the host team Vietnam.
Coach Mai Duc Chung commented: “Regarding UAE women's football, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club recently hosted Abu Dhabi Country Club. Through that match, it can be seen that UAE women's football has many physical advantages with naturalized players. Guam is a new opponent for us, but through preliminary information, this is also an opponent with physical strength.
Among the opponents, the Vietnamese women's team has only competed with the Maldives team in the 2022 Asian women's qualifiers. Although the Vietnamese women's team won that match, recently, countries in the continent have been investing and changing strongly, so we cannot be subjective."
Ready for campaign
The Vietnamese women's team will be determined to achieve good results in the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, to prepare for two other important goals in 2025: the Southeast Asian Championship and the 33rd SEA Games. Not only that, passing the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers is also a long-term preparation step for the "Diamond Girls" to aim for the goal of winning tickets to the 2027 Women's World Cup (the 6 teams with the best results at the 2026 Asian Cup finals will win tickets to the 2027 Women's World Cup).
In February 2022 in India, the Vietnamese women's team made history for the country's football when they defeated the Chinese Taipei team 2-1 in the play-off match for the 2022 Asian Cup finals to win a place at the 2023 Women's World Cup. The upcoming campaign in Viet Tri will be the first step for coach Mai Duc Chung and his team in their journey to re-create history.
In preparation for the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers as well as important tournaments in the coming time, the Vietnamese women's team has been given the opportunity to focus on domestic training and overseas training trips. In 2024, the team had two "training" sessions in the Czech Republic and China to help the players continue to practice in the national team environment, maintaining the feeling of competition because the team did not participate in any official international tournaments.
The Vietnamese women's team has just completed a 10-day training session in Osaka (Japan) and had 3 friendly matches (2 wins and 1 draw). Although the team's "blue team" in this training session are not strong opponents, according to coach Mai Duc Chung, the level of Japanese women's football is still better than Vietnam's and is suitable for the coaching staff's professional plan.
“The Vietnamese women's team has successfully completed the set goals. The whole team, from young players to key players, have maintained stable performance and enthusiasm in training sessions as well as friendly matches. The recent matches have helped the Vietnamese players improve their individual skills as well as team coordination and team coordination. The good news is that after the matches, no players were injured, preserving their strength and being ready for the upcoming matches,” said coach Mai Duc Chung.
Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/ky-vong-su-khoi-dau-suon-se-146492.html
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