AFC Women's Champions League 2025 - 2026: Challenges for Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club

clb nữ tp.hcm - Ảnh 1. — Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club practices in preparation for the opening match against Stallion Laguna - Photo: NK

This is the decisive match for the ticket to the next round. This is because the runner-up Melbourne City has superior strength and is likely to win the top spot.

Fierce competition

Compared to last year's group stage, this year's group is much more difficult for Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club because there are 2 competitors competing for the ticket to the next round. Melbourne City Club is a very strong opponent coming from Australia's women's football, ranked 15th in the world , 22 places higher than Vietnam's women's football.

In addition to high-class domestic players, Melbourne City also has 5 high-quality foreign players. Last year, Melbourne City only lost to Wuhan Jiangda on penalties in the final after a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes. Meanwhile, despite their best efforts, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club still lost to host Wuhan Jiangda 0-2 in the semi-finals.

Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club must defeat Stallion Laguna today to secure a ticket to the next round, before facing Melbourne City in the final round of Group A on November 19. However, defeating Stallion Laguna Club is not an easy task. This Philippine representative has 6 players currently playing for the Philippine women's team in the squad.

It is worth mentioning that all 6 players were born in the US and have very good physiques such as number one goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel (1m72 tall), midfielder Kaya Hawkinson (1m68), Isabella Pasion (1m70) and striker Chandler McDaniel (1m70). Not to mention that Stallion Laguna Club also has 8 American foreign players to choose 6 people to register to play in each match.

Not only that, Lion City Sailors Club (Singapore) is also an opponent that cannot be underestimated with 3 Japanese foreign players and 1 Chinese foreign player spread across all three lines.

Confidently enter the tournament

Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club has prepared very carefully for its second major continental tournament. Experience gained from last season has helped coach Doan Thi Kim Chi quickly find foreign players and plan preparations for the team.

In addition to the 4 foreign players (3 from the US and 1 from Pakistan) who played for the HCMC Women's Club last season, Coach Kim Chi has chosen 2 new players from the US and Tunisia. Both of these foreign players play in defense, to further strengthen the team.

Not only adding foreign players, HCMC Women's Club also added two quality domestic players, goalkeeper Kim Thanh and striker Hoai Luong. Both are positions that HCMC Women's Club needs to hope to go further in the continental arena.

With a better class and physique than Quach Thu Em, goalkeeper Kim Thanh will create more peace of mind for the defense, especially with high balls. In the comeback win over Abu Dhabi (UAE) in the quarter-finals of last year's tournament, the 2 goals conceded by the HCMC Women's Club both came from high balls. Meanwhile, Hoai Luong is an ideal addition to the attack when playing aggressively and finishing well in support of captain Huynh Nhu.

Because she does not have a professional coaching license (Pro license) according to the regulations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Coach Kim Chi only registered as an assistant to Coach Nguyen Hong Pham. However, this talented female coach will be the one to decide everything. "We set the goal of going as far as possible, which means we will try our best to win every match. Just like breaking the curse last year by reaching the semi-finals, this year we will go deeper," Coach Nguyen Hong Pham shared at the press conference.

Meanwhile, Stallion Laguna Club also did not hide their desire to defeat the home team to win a ticket to the next round. Coach Ernest Nierras highly appreciated the HCMC Women's Club having many players from the Vietnam Women's National Team, but was also confident that they would achieve good results with a quality squad.

He said: "Over the years, the Philippine women's team has faced the Vietnamese women's team many times and often lost. Recently, when the AFC allowed the naturalization of players, I hope the Philippine women's team will have a fairer competition with opponents from the continent and the world. Like all other participating teams, our goal in the tournament is to pass the group stage to advance to the next round."

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/afc-champions-league-nu-2025-2026-thach-thuc-cho-clb-nu-tp-hcm-20251113103549749.htm