Vietnamese female football team to play with high resolve in Asian Cup final

Head coach Mai Duc Chung speaks at the press conference. (Photo courtesy of Vietnam Football Federation)

New Delhi – The women's football team of Vietnam will compete in the 2022 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup with strong determination and effort, head coach Mai Duc Chung said on January 20.

Speaking at a press conference held in India, where the team are gearing up for their match against the Republic of Korea, Chung said that he and the whole team are very happy to once again participate in the 2022 Asian Women's Football Cup final, and thanked the Organising Committee of the host country India for the warm welcoming of the team.

The Vietnamese women's team are in a group with very strong opponents such as Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Myanmar, he said, adding "This is unfortunate for us, but as a professional coach with many years of experience in women's football, I and the team members will keep up our resolve”.

He also shared with media agencies about the difficulty that the Vietnamese women's team are facing, that is, more than half of the team's members are infected with the coronavirus, so they have to split into several groups to go to India.

Chung said he has not received the test results of 14 players and the players have not trained for 10 days.

With the support of the Vietnam Football Federation, the team have made good preparation for the tournament with a training trip in Spain, but it is unfortunate that the team are affected by the COVID-19 problem, he said, adding that this is an unexpected situation.

Vietnam are set to play the Republic of Korea on January 21.

The upcoming tourney will serve as the continental qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.