Expectations for the next generation

Efforts to compete for position

In this training session, head coach Mai Duc Chung called up 28 players, most of whom participated in the 2026 Asian Women's Qualifiers. This is a tournament where coach Mai Duc Chung has given many opportunities for young players to compete alongside their seniors. Therefore, the team has quite a few young players in this training session to prepare for the Southeast Asian tournament.

From the factors that have contributed to the campaign to win a place at the 2023 Women's World Cup and are currently the pillars of the national team such as Nguyen Thi Thanh Nha, Ngan Thi Van Su or Tran Thi Hai Linh (born in 2001) to the faces that have just joined the recent gatherings such as Le Thi Bao Tram, Ngoc Minh Chuyen (born in 2004), Cu Thi Huynh Nhu or Nguyen Thi Tuyet Ngan (born in 2000).

Among the young players gathered this time, midfielder Cu Thi Huynh Nhu is one of the faces expected to make a breakthrough. “During this gathering, I gradually got used to the exercises and playing style set out by coach Mai Duc Chung. During the training sessions, I always tried to express myself and integrate well with my teammates. My highest goal is to strive to be on the list of the team participating in the upcoming Southeast Asian tournament,” Cu Thi Huynh Nhu shared.

Young defender Tran Thi Hai Linh expressed her excitement for the upcoming campaign: “Playing at home is always an honor for me and the whole team. The goal of winning the Southeast Asian women's championship this year will be more difficult because all teams have naturalized players. Recently, coach Mai Duc Chung has asked the players to practice a lot of physical training to compete with naturalized players, as well as have their own tactics to compete with teams with superior physiques.”

Meanwhile, defender Le Thi Bao Tram expressed that being called up to the national team for the first time will be a great motivation to strive. “Personally, I am also under pressure because the older girls have superior technical abilities. However, I will continue to try to practice and complete the tasks of the coaching staff, improve my weaknesses and promote my strengths to integrate into the team as quickly as possible. I will try my best to get a place to participate in the Southeast Asian tournament with my sisters,” Bao Tram expressed.

Looking to the future

Rejuvenating the force is a common trend in modern football and the Vietnamese women's team is no exception. Vietnamese women's football is possessing a "golden generation" with many impressive achievements in recent times, including 4 consecutive SEA Games championships (2017, 2019, 2022, 2023), Southeast Asian championship 2019, reaching the final qualifying round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, especially the achievement of winning the right to participate in the 2023 Women's World Cup.

However, at present, the players of this “golden generation” are getting old and do not have much time left to contribute to the national team. Captain Huynh Nhu is about to turn 34, players such as Tran Thi Thu (34 years old), Kim Thanh (32 years old), Tuyet Dung, Bich Thuy, Duong Thi Van (31 years old), Hai Yen, Chuong Thi Kieu, Hoang Thi Loan (30 years old) can only play at the top level for a few more years.

Therefore, in recent years, especially after the 2023 Women's World Cup, the coaching staff of the Vietnamese women's team has given priority to rejuvenating the squad, looking for the next generation with good expertise to replace their seniors in the future. In 2024, due to the lack of any official international tournaments, coach Mai Duc Chung gave opportunities to many young players in two training sessions in the Czech Republic and China with a squad of about 44 - 45% of players born after 2000, including some players promoted from the U20 team.

Similarly, in the early stages of 2025, with a friendly match with Werder Bremen Club (Germany) and a training trip to Japan, the coaching staff also created conditions for many young players to compete before the team entered the 2026 Asian qualifiers, the upcoming Southeast Asian tournament, the 33rd SEA Games, and especially the campaign to find a place to attend the 2027 Women's World Cup next year.

According to coach Mai Duc Chung, rejuvenating the squad is extremely important. Without young players, the team's performance is at risk of falling behind. Therefore, the goal of the Vietnamese women's team is still to train and familiarize young players with the way of training, living and competing in a senior team, then gradually getting used to competing.

“Rejuvenating the squad is a journey for all teams to have the next generation. If we don’t have a good next generation, our performance will obviously not be good. Therefore, we have been doing this for a long time, not just now. But we constantly change, regularly creating opportunities for different young players to join the women’s team to practice and get acquainted, then we may send them back and invite others, not fix a few people. Of course, players who are playing well will be in the plan to join the team. Therefore, there are also many young players joining the team with the purpose of training them to approach the team more, be more suitable and coordinate better with the older players,” coach Mai Duc Chung expressed.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/ky-vong-vao-the-he-ke-thua-158662.html