Important training session for coach Mai Duc Chung and his team

BACK TO THE HURRY

In 2023, Coach Mai Duc Chung and the Vietnamese women's team will be extremely busy with a series of major tournaments, from the Asian Olympic qualifiers, SEA Games 32, World Cup Finals in New Zealand to the Asian Cup. In total, Coach Mai Duc Chung and his team have played 19 matches, an impressive number. Not only have they been trained a lot, the Vietnamese women's team has also learned a lot of experience when facing a series of strong opponents, the world's top women's teams such as the US, the Netherlands, Germany, etc.

The Vietnamese women's team needs to aim to defend the Southeast Asian title.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

But by 2024, the Vietnamese women's team will not be able to compete in any major tournaments. The players will still compete in domestic tournaments, but the number of matches will be very limited. In that context, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has made efforts to create conditions for the golden girls to train in Europe and play friendly matches in China. It will not be until mid-2025 that the Vietnamese women's team will begin to return to a more intense competition schedule. At the end of June, Bich Thuy and her teammates will have the task of winning tickets to the 2026 Asian Women's Championship finals when they play the qualifying round at home.

To prepare for the campaign, the Vietnamese women's team began gathering and training from May 6 and had two friendly matches with the Werder Bremen women's team and the Ho Chi Minh City women's club. Next, from June 8 to 18, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team will go to Japan for training. After the 2026 Asian women's qualifying round, the Vietnamese women's team will continue to have two important tournaments in the second half of 2025, which are the Southeast Asian women's championship and the 33rd SEA Games. Therefore, this is an important training session.

Coach Mai Duc Chung's mission

In this training session, the Vietnamese women's team will not have the services of a series of pillars from the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club such as Huynh Nhu, Chuong Thi Kieu, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Ngan... Coach Doan Thi Kim Chi and her team are in the process of training, preparing for the confrontation with Wuhan Jiangda Club in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup C1. This is a disadvantage for the Vietnamese women's team but also an opportunity for coach Mai Duc Chung to bring the team into a decisive generational transition period. The 73-year-old strategist needs to build a new framework, aiming to turn young players such as Ta Thi Thuy, Ngoc Minh Chuyen, Vu Thi Hoa... into the "nucleus" of the Vietnamese women's team in the near future.

In order to shorten the transition period while still limiting the decline in strength, young talents need to be placed in a top-level competition environment more often. And the confrontation with strong opponents such as the Werder Bremen women's team or opponents in Japan becomes more important. Not only is it simply a matter of practicing skills and tactics, this is also an opportunity for young players to learn professional football style, and compete with opponents with speed, physical strength, etc. at a higher level. At the same time, the group of pillars such as Bich Thuy, Duong Thi Van, Tuyet Dung, etc. also need to make efforts to regain the best feeling of international competition, thereby helping the Vietnamese women's team complete the task of winning a ticket to the 2026 Asian Women's Championship.

In fact, this is an easy task for coach Mai Duc Chung and his team when their opponents in the same group are UAE, Maldives and Guam. These are teams far behind the Vietnamese women's team in terms of class and international competition experience. However, the important thing is not the results of the qualifying matches, but how the team takes advantage of this opportunity to test the squad, train new individuals and shape the playing style for the long road ahead.

With major tournaments awaiting in the second half of 2025 such as the Southeast Asian Women's Championship and the 33rd SEA Games, the Vietnamese women's team needs to aim for stability and depth. The goal is not just to win, but to win with convincing play, finding players with enough courage and level to keep up with modern football trends. Winning a ticket to the Asian Cup is a stepping stone, but maintaining the Southeast Asian title is the real test for the next generation, especially when opponents like the Philippines and Thailand are still getting stronger every day.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dot-tap-huan-quan-trong-cua-thay-tro-hlv-mai-duc-chung-185250506215054282.htm