Women’s football squad faces human resources crisis over COVID-19

Some of the 23-member team have been infected with the virus while training in Spain for the finals (Illustrative photo - Source: Vietnam Football Federation)

Hanoi (VNA) – The national women’s football team is hoping to have at least 13 players negative to COVID-19 so that they will qualify for the opening match against the Republic of Korea on January 21 as part of the 2022 Asian Women's Cup finals, said head coach Mai Duc Chung.

Earlier, some of the 23-member team have been infected with the virus while training in Spain for the finals.

After the short training camp last December, 10 members, including head coach Mai Duc Chung, arrived in India’s Pune city on January 16 for the tournament scheduled to run from January 20 to February 6. Others are waiting for their COVID-19 test results in Spain, hoping to get a timely flight to India on January 19.

Among the 10 players in India, only one received positive test result for coronavirus upon arrival. Currently, Vietnam prioritises ensuring the wellbeing of the squad and joining the upcoming matches safely in line with regulations.

At the finals, five teams will qualify directly for the 2023 World Cup via the knockout stages, and two more teams will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs. Vietnam hopes their performance will gain them a place in the World Cup for the first time in history./.

VNA