The Vietnam women football team has their sights set on the Women’s World Cup
2015 and winning first place at the 27th SEA Games.
The women’s team is set to compete in the qualifying round for the 2014 AFC
Women’s Asian Cup in May with group C, which includes Hong Kong, Bahrain and
Kyrgyzstan.
The top five countries in the Asian Cup tournament will qualify for the FIFA
Women’s World Cup.
Unlike the men’s teams, the women’s teams from Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan are
considered weak, while Hong Kong does not appear to pose much competition.
Hopes for qualification ran higher when North Korea, one of the strongest teams,
was disqualified from the 2015 Women’s World Cup after five players tested
positive for performance enhancing drugs at the Women’s World Cup in Germany.
Currently Asia’s top-ranking teams are Australia, Japan, South Korea and China.
Vietnam must rank in the top six in order to qualify.
Though some outstanding players such as Kim Chi have left the Vietnamese team,
they still have several young and promising players such as Kieu Trinh, Kim Hong
and Le Thi Thuong. With such a talented squad expectations are running high for
a strong showing.
Goalkeeper, Kieu Trinh, who won the Vietnam Golden Ball in 2011, said, “I hope
the the fans will show their support. I think that with their support we can
win.”
Another player, Le Thi Thuong said, “As women, we have to sacrifice a lot to
play football, but I’m very happy to be on the national team and see the support
of our fans.”
In order to win the gold at the 27th SEA Games, Vietnam will have to face two
strong rivals, Thailand and Myanmar. Myanmar will have the advantage of playing
on their home turf.
Dan Tri