Women’s team reach first ever World Cup
Group 1 against the world’s strongest team today
Shops open at 8am for match time
and prepare to cheer together
The Vietnam Women’s National Football Team will make their World Cup debut as a men’s and women’s national team when they take on the United States in their Group E opener at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 on 22 February. Vietnamese women’s national football team players wave as they leave the field after losing 1-2 in an exhibition match against Germany in Offenbach, Germany, on 25 March. Offenbach=AP News
The 22nd is shaping up to be a monumental day in Vietnamese football history.
The Vietnamese women’s national football team will make their World Cup debut at 10 a.m. when they take on world champions the United States in a Group E match at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. This will be the first time Vietnam, both the men’s and women’s national teams, will compete at a World Cup.
Despite the fact that their first opponent is world number one, the United States, who have won two consecutive World Cups 먹튀검증 (2015 and 2019) and are strong favourites to win the tournament, the Vietnamese are excited.
Vietnam, ranked 32nd in women’s football, booked its first-ever World Cup ticket after beating Thailand and Chinese Taipei in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup playoffs in February. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Trinh has dubbed the squad the “Diamond Girls” for their perseverance under pressure. The team is led by striker Huynh, 32, who is the only Vietnamese player to play in an overseas league (Portugal’s second division). “It’s a big challenge to play a strong team like the US, but it’s a chance to learn from them,” said captain Thi Thi Thuy Chanh (35). We will have a good strategy to face them by defending and then counter-attacking,” said captain Teng Tiui-chan (35).
Vietnam coach Mai Duc Trung, who celebrated his 72nd birthday last month, is set to become the oldest coach in the history of the men’s and women’s World Cups. He will surpass the record set by Otto Rehagel, who coached the Greek men’s team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa (71 years and 317 days) in his final game with the team.
Vietnam is also heating up. According to foreign media, sports pubs will open their doors in the morning to accommodate fans watching the match, which kicks off at 8am local time. Pubs, restaurants and other establishments are expected to have staff wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the Vietnamese flag on match days.
The poor state of women’s football in Vietnam is also being highlighted. According to US sports publication Athletic, “Some professional teams in Vietnam pay their players $200 to $300 (about VND260,000 to VND390,000) a month. As a result, there are some national team players who sell clothing and cosmetics online or open restaurants (on the side).”
According to sports bookmaker Opta, the United States has an 86.7 per cent chance of winning, while Vietnam has a 4.5 per cent chance. Opta rated Vietnam’s chances of winning the tournament at 0.65 per cent, the second-lowest among the 32 participating countries, behind Panama (0.36 per cent).