Left-back Ouni Samia (in red shirt) while playing for Al-Nassr Club in Saudi Arabia - Photo: Instagram
The Ho Chi Minh City women's club has just signed contracts with six foreign players to compete in the group stage of the 2025-2026 AFC Women's Champions League, which kicks off next month at Thong Nhat Stadium.
Accordingly, coach Doan Thi Kim Chi has selected center-back Aubrey Goodwill (1.8m), Gorman Chloe (1.65m), midfielders Sakura Yoshida and Tatiana Mason (USA), left-back Ouni Samia (Tunisia), and striker Maria Khan (Pakistan) to strengthen the squad.
Among them are four foreign players who previously played for the Ho Chi Minh City women's club in last year's tournament: Tatiana Mason (group stage), Aubrey Goodwill, Sakura Yoshida, and Maria Khan (semi-finals).
The two new foreign players show promise of quality.
The two brand-new foreign players for the Ho Chi Minh City women's club are Ouni Samia and Gorman Chloe. Ouni Samia is a Tunisian national team player who won the 2023-2024 Saudi Arabian Women's Football League with Al-Nassr FC. Gorman Allen played for Aalborg BK (Denmark) last season.
This is the first time the Ho Chi Minh City women's club has "gone big" by hiring as many as six foreign players. Last season, the team coached by Doan Thi Kim Chi only hired a maximum of four foreign players, for the semi-final match against host Wuhan Jiangda (China).
Midfielder Sakura Yoshida of Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club in the semi-final match against Wuhan Jiangda - Photo: NK
Unfortunately, due to injury, Maria Khan was unable to play in this match, leaving the Ho Chi Minh City women's team without their best players and resulting in a 0-2 defeat against Wuhan Jiangda.
Hiring six foreign players not only maximizes the number of foreign players allowed by the league regulations, but also helps coach Doan Thi Kim Chi fill positions that the Ho Chi Minh City women's club is currently lacking.
Coach Kim Chi stated that all six foreign players only signed short-term contracts of two months to train and compete in the group stage. Depending on the performance of each foreign player and whether the team advances, an agreement will be made to extend their contracts.
The 46-year-old coach shared: "We are very happy that the leadership has allowed us to hire six foreign players to compete in continental competitions."
We assess the team's situation, trying to fill any gaps to ensure good performance. Besides that, we need a strong squad to get through the group stage, as our opponents this year are all very strong."
The Ho Chi Minh City women's club, in Group A, will face Stallion Laguna (Philippines, November 13), Lion City Sailors (Singapore, November 16), and Melbourne City (Australia, November 19). The top two teams in each group, along with the two best third-placed teams across all three groups, will qualify for the quarterfinals.
Coach Kim Chi and her team are currently training in Ho Chi Minh City. The team plans to have a training camp in Hanoi from October 27th to November 5th to prepare for the tournament.
In Hanoi, the Ho Chi Minh City women's club will have two high-quality friendly matches against the Vietnamese women's national team at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center before returning to Ho Chi Minh City to participate in the tournament.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/clb-nu-tp-hcm-thue-6-ngoai-binh-da-giai-chau-a-20251022134517965.htm
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