The Vietnamese women football team successfully defend their championship at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (Photo: VNA) Having missed the FIFA World Cup twice, the Vietnamese team ledby coach Mai Duc Chung were determined to advance to the global tournament’sfinal round by defeating other rivals at the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup, atournament which serves as a qualifying event for the FIFAWomen's World Cup.
Tran Quoc Tuan, Chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation(VFF) said that preparation for the tournament had started as early as from2017, including the training of young players and investing more in improving theirliving and training conditions.
Fortune also smiled on Vietnam when FIFA decided to increase the number ofteams attending the World Cup 2023 from 24 to 32, which means there will be six slots for Asian teamsin the finals. At that time Vietnam were the fifthstrongest team in Asia.
The AFC Cup 2022 was a tough tournament for Vietnam (Photo: VNA) However, the AFC Cup 2022 was a tough tournament for Vietnamas the team was drawn to the same group with strong competitors of Japan, theRepublic of Korea and Myanmar.
On December 25, 2021, coach Mai Duc Chung decided the23-member squad of the Vietnamese team leaving for Spain for training for AFCCup 2022.
The training trip was full of difficulties due to COVID-19 impacts. In thehardest time, 20 out of the 23 players of the team tested positive to SARS-CoV-2,while AFC Asian Cup was only several days to come.
With decreased health after recovering from COVID-19, the Vietnamese players suffered defeat against the Republic of Korea and Japan, and drewMyanmar 2-2.
In the final round of AFC Asian Cup, Vietnam lost to China1-3, and had to play play-offs with Thailand and Chinese Taipeito win a ticket to the World Cup finals.
Vietnam had a good game with Thailand and enjoyed a 2-0victory. Unexpectedly, Thailand lost 0-3 to Chinese Taipei, which meant Vietnam had towin Taipei to secure a ticket to the World Cup.
With extraordinary efforts, the Vietnamese female team won2-1 against Chinese Taipei, and made the dream ofgenerations of players of Vietnam come true, marking an important milestone inthe history of Vietnamese football with a ticket to the World Cup.
VFF President Tran Minh Tuan said that the journey to FIFAWorld Cup 2023 was tough but end with miracles. The players and the coaching teamhad to go through tremendous pressure both physically and mentally. Overcomingall difficulties, the whole team never ceased to do their best and finally made the proudachievement of Vietnamese women's football.
The historical ticket to the world tournament was the resultof perseverance, bravery, resilience and the Vietnamese spirit of never givingup, he stated./.
VNA
