Huynh Nhu was blocked, but Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club still won a ticket to the quarterfinals of the Asian tournament.

With a 2-0 victory over Lion City Sailors (Singapore) in the group stage of the 2025-2026 Asian Women's Cup last night (November 16) at Thong Nhat Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club quickly won a ticket to the quarterfinals.

Huynh Nhu has a burning sensation

The match between Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club and Lion City Sailors Club (Singapore) is part of the second round of Group A - Asian Women's Cup 2025-2026. This is considered a good opportunity for Huynh Nhu and her teammates to continue to win 3 full points, because the representative of Singapore women's football is rated the lowest in this group. However, coach Nguyen Hong Pham's team encountered many difficulties against the team of coach Yeong Sheau Shyan. In this match, the coaching staff of Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club still fielded a familiar lineup, with the trio of foreign central defenders Chloe Gorman - Aubrey Goodwill - Samia Ouni defending in front of goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh. Midfielder Tatiana Mason took charge of the midfield, while striker Huynh Nhu continued to hold the captain's armband and lead the attack. Notably, the 2024 Vietnamese Women's Golden Ball Tran Thi Thuy Trang also returned to the starting lineup, positioned as the highest striker.

Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club (right) is in the quarter-finals of the Asian Women's Cup C1 for the second consecutive time.

PHOTO: NGOC LINH

Compared to the opening match, the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club "breathed easier" in controlling the midfield, when the difference in physical strength between the two teams' players was almost non-existent. Coach Yeong Sheau Shyan said that the Thong Nhat Stadium home team had a high-intensity and direct playing style, so the Lion City Sailors Club entered the match with a low formation, defending in large numbers. Many players were assigned to closely follow the "drills" with good speed and technique on the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club side such as Tran Thi Thu Thao and Huynh Nhu. Huynh Nhu was closely marked by the away team's players, so she could not fully demonstrate her abilities. The representative of Singapore's women's football accepted to defend in large numbers, waiting for the home team's weakness to organize a quick counterattack, relying on the speed of Chinese defender Wang Jia Xin and the tactical vision of the Japanese foreign duo Eri Kitagawa and Ami Takeuchi.

Win at the end of the match

The fact that all Lion City Sailors players were present in the home field made the space created for the HCMC women's team very limited. In addition, many coordination situations in the area near or inside the opponent's penalty area were not well utilized by the HCMC women's players. Huynh Nhu played the role of attracting the opponent's defenders, creating a wall and passing the ball quite well many times, but her teammates were not really ready for a quick shot. The HCMC women's club coaching staff made many substitutions in the second half, aiming to increase the attack. However, coach Nguyen Hong Pham's team was still quite stuck in penetrating the opponent's defense. It was not until after the opponent's reluctant substitution (due to health reasons) that the HCMC women's club had 2 late goals thanks to Tran Nguyen Bao Chau (minute 84) and K'Thua (minute 90+3).

In the early match of Group A taking place on the same day, Melbourne City FC (Australia) continued to show their superior strength when defeating the representative of the Philippines, Stallion Laguna FC, with a score of 7-0. After 2 matches, the team from the land of kangaroos has scored 12 goals and has not conceded any. This achievement helps Melbourne City continue to lead Group A with 6 absolute points. Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club ranked second in the group with 6 points and a goal difference of +3. Lion City Sailors (0 points, goal difference -7), Stallion Laguna (0 points, goal difference -8) ranked third and fourth respectively. Thus, Melbourne City Club and Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club have early won tickets to the quarter-finals of the 2025-2026 Asian Women's Cup C1. Meanwhile, Lion City Sailors and Stallion Laguna still hope to continue with the ticket for the third-place team with good results.

In the final match of Group A - 2025-2026 Asian Women's Cup taking place on November 19, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club will meet Melbourne City, while Stallion Laguna FC will face Lion City Sailors.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/huynh-nhu-bi-phong-toa-clb-nu-tphcm-van-som-gianh-ve-vao-tu-ket-giai-chau-a-185251116225052577.htm