A historic victory for the golden girls of Vietnamese futsal.

The Vietnamese women's futsal team is predicted to face many difficulties at the Southeast Asian Futsal Championship. While coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang's team has only recently made significant progress, the regional women's futsal scene has long been dominated by Thailand. The Thai team has won all five SEA Games where women's futsal has been held (2007, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2021), and also triumphed at the 2017 Asian Indoor Games, finishing third in Asia in 2015 and 2018. Thailand's world ranking of 6th (Vietnam's 11th) also guarantees the "War Elephants'" position in the final.

Fierce competition

The Vietnamese women's futsal team (left) defeated Thailand to win the Southeast Asian championship.

However, the Vietnamese women's futsal team turned the impossible into reality. After conserving their strength and keeping their tactics secret against Thailand in the final group stage match, Coach Dinh Hoang's players played a memorable final against their rivals on the evening of November 21st in the Philippines. Unlike the 0-3 defeat against Thailand, or the two goals conceded against Myanmar, no defensive errors were repeated in this rematch. The Vietnamese women's futsal team adopted a tight, solid defensive strategy on the flanks, handling the ball safely, and even resorting to long balls to prevent the opponent from winning possession in their own half. This calculated approach is understandable, given that Vietnam was the underdog and had to play cautiously to counter Thailand's formidable attacking power.

The Vietnamese futsal team has achieved commendable results.

However, the Vietnamese women's futsal team didn't play passively in defense; instead, they employed a counter-attacking strategy, clearly choosing the right moments to accelerate. After two halves without a winner, the decision to increase the pace at the end of the first extra time period by Coach Dinh Hoang's team made the difference, when Phuong Anh's shot caught the opponent off guard and resulted in an own goal. While the opening goal came from a quick, short-passing attack that the Vietnamese women's futsal team had practiced extensively, the second goal demonstrated the resilience of the red-shirted team. The Vietnamese women's futsal team conceded a goal when Thailand pushed their entire team forward to attack, but only needed one minute to regain the lead. Phuong Anh and her teammates didn't falter under the pressure from the world's sixth-ranked team, but persistently organized their play and reaped the rewards.

Phuong Anh (right) and Thanh Hang

The Southeast Asian Championship title further solidified the progress of the Vietnamese women's futsal team. Prior to that, coach Dinh Hoang and his players won a friendly tournament in Thailand, defeating China and drawing with host Thailand. The Vietnamese women's futsal team has improved its skill level thanks to international training camps for competitive experience, as well as the addition of quality players from 11-a-side football such as Tran Thi Thuy Trang, Bien Thi Hang, Bui Thi Trang… As a result, the physical fitness of the Vietnamese women's futsal team is significantly better than before.

Winning the championship in the inaugural Southeast Asian tournament demonstrates the potential of Vietnamese women's futsal. For a long time, 5-a-side futsal for women has not received consistent attention, as evidenced by the players primarily drawn from Thai Son Nam Ho Chi Minh City and 11-a-side clubs. However, this achievement in the Philippines is hoped to boost Vietnamese women's futsal, especially in the national championship system.

With a 2-1 victory, the Vietnamese women's futsal team was crowned champion of the 2024 Southeast Asian Futsal Championship. In addition, the team received individual awards: Phuong Anh – Top scorer (5 goals); Thanh Hang – Best player of the tournament. After the match, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) congratulated the entire Vietnamese women's futsal team on their efforts and best performance: winning the 2024 Southeast Asian Women's Futsal Championship, and awarded the team 600 million VND.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chien-thang-lich-su-cua-cac-co-gai-vang-futsal-viet-nam-185241121151214975.htm