Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club aims for historic continental final

Speaking before the opening match of the 2025-2026 AFC Champions League Women's Club, Coach Nguyen Hong Pham said that the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club wants to surpass the achievement of reaching the semi-finals of last year's tournament.

Coach Nguyen Hong Pham and captain Huynh Nhu were confident at the press conference before the tournament - Photo: ANH KHOA

On the afternoon of November 12, the press conference before the opening match of Group A of the 2025-2026 AFC Champions League for Women took place in Ho Chi Minh City. The opening match of Group A was attended by Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club, Stallion Laguna (Philippines), Melbourne City (Australia) and Lion City Sailors (Singapore).

Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club will meet Stallion Laguna (Philippines) at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow (November 13) at Thong Nhat Stadium.

To continue to compete well in this year's tournament, the HCMC Women's Club has hired 6 foreign players, including 2 new foreign players compared to last year's tournament. Last season, coach Doan Thi Kim Chi and her team made history when they reached the semi-finals and lost 0-2 to host Wuhan Jiangda (China).

Because she does not have a professional coaching license (Pro license) according to the regulations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Coach Kim Chi will be the assistant to Head Coach Nguyen Hong Pham. However, all decisions about the team's personnel and tactics will still be made by Kim Chi.

Speaking before the tournament, coach Nguyen Hong Pham shared: "We had a week of training in Hanoi with two friendly matches with the Vietnamese women's team. Currently, everyone is ready and determined to achieve the best results for the qualifying round."

Coach Nguyen Hong Pham and Coach Ernest Nierras shook hands at the press conference - Photo: ANH KHOA

"We set the target of going as far as possible, which means we will try our best to win every match. Just like last year we broke the curse of reaching the semi-finals, this year we will go deeper," Mr. Pham added.

Talking about the integration level of the 6 foreign players, coach Nguyen Hong Pham said: "The good news is that they all integrated very quickly in training as well as in daily life.

I firmly believe that we will continue to work together to promote our strengths of solidarity, determination and never give up."

For her part, captain Huynh Nhu said: "Coming to this tournament, my goal as well as the whole team's is to win each match and advance to the next round.

Apart from the 4 foreign players who played last season, there is no need to discuss, the 2 new players also integrated very quickly with their teammates. I hope the foreign players will bring a new breeze to the HCMC Women's Club in the tournament."

Meanwhile, coach Ernest Nierras (Stalllion Laguna FC) said: "Currently, our team has 6-7 players in the national team, so this tournament is an opportunity for our players to practice for the upcoming 33rd SEA Games."

When asked if he knew anything about the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club, Coach Ernest Nierras said: "Over the years, I have 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 .

In this match, don't forget we are a Southeast Asian family, so the confrontation between countries in the region will help Southeast Asian women's football develop more strongly."

Unlike Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club, which got a direct entry into the group stage, Stallion Laguna Club had to play in the preliminary round to secure a ticket. The team beat Khovd Western (Mongolia) 6-1 and Strykers (Guam) 13-0, but lost to ISPE (Myanmar) 1-3.

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/clb-nu-tp-hcm-huong-den-tran-chung-ket-lich-su-chau-luc-20251112121254951.htm