Women s Football AFC Champions League The development history of the women s football team in Ho Chi Minh City is the development history of the women s football team in Vietnam

This article is excerpted from a local women's football report in Vietnam. It is about the development history of the women's football team in Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnamese women's football team. Judging from the development history of the women's football team in Vietnam, the development of the women's football team in Vietnam has not been smooth sailing. Although many places are similar to our Chinese women's football team, more places have Vietnam's own characteristics. Through this article, we Chinese women's football fans, especially Wuhan and Hubei fans who represent China in the Women's Football AFC final, can have a deeper understanding of our opponent in the semi-finals. The stymied start of women's football in Ho Chi Minh City was the beginning of women's football in Ho Chi Minh City, when the sport was not recognized by the city's sports authorities. Not only is it difficult to find a girl who loves to play football, but she also encountered many undeserved resistance when forming a women's football team. Chen Qingwu, who was then the director of the No. 1 Sports Center of Ho Chi Minh City, recalled, "The more they were not interested in women's football, the more I had to work hard to develop women's football, because I think this is a sport where we can win gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games in the future, because the Thai men's football team is too strong, and it is difficult for Vietnamese men's football team to defeat their opponents."

The coach of the second team of Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team Liu Yumei recalled, "At that time, our Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team was difficult to make an appointment for the game. I remember once our team had to have a friendly match with Longan Men's Football Team. That day The car we were riding had to pull all the curtains so that no one could see who was sitting in the car. But I don’t know who made a report, the leader of the Sports Commission chased after him on a motorcycle and caught everyone back. That memory is still fresh in my memory. That experience was so uncomfortable, because going to a game was like smuggling, and some people even asked to disband the team. At the same time, Huang Yongjiang, who was then the Minister of Sports Department of Hanoi, made a different decision. Hanoi became the leader in the development of Vietnam women’s football. Although the Hanoi women’s football team was not at a high level, because it was given a green light, the development of the Hanoi women’s football team was much smoother than that of Ho Chi Minh City. The rise of Vietnamese women's football was not until 1996 that Vietnam officially accepted women's football and established the national team under the guidance of Medezhong (also the current head coach of the national team). At that time, the team's main players were from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The first event that the Vietnamese women's football team participated was a friendly match held in Malaysia. Some of the Vietnamese players were in their 30s at that time, but when the Vietnamese women's football team was recognized for the first time and officially participated in international competitions, everyone in the women's football team was filled with joy, and that was also the first time that the Vietnamese women's football team won the championship, which was very happy.

Vietnam Women's Football Team made its debut in the 1996 Southeast Asian Games qualifiers and officially participated in the Southeast Asian Games in 1997, and defeated Indonesia 2-0 to win the bronze medal. This is the first time that the Vietnamese women's football team has achieved good results in an international competition. However, since there was no women's football event in the Brunei ASEAN Games in 1999, it was not until the Malaysian ASEAN Games in 2001 that the Vietnamese women's football players won the gold medal in this event for the first time. The Vietnam Women's Football Team then won the championships in the Southeast Asian Games in 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

In addition to the Southeast Asian competitions, the Vietnamese women's football team also went out of Asia for the first time and qualified for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand for the first time. Nguyen Thi Bicui, who played for the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team at that time, said, "Being able to participate in the 2023 World Cup is not only luck, but also the result of our efforts. That year, the COVID-19 pandemic was raging, and we once thought we had to give up because there were no players who could participate in the play-offs to compete for World Cup tickets, and even in some games there were no players who could substitute. However, the goddess of luck favored the Vietnamese women's football team, and we won the ticket to this world's highest event."

Among the Vietnamese women's football teams that achieved excellent results in Southeast Asia, Asia and the World Cup, the Ho Chi Minh City women's football team made great contributions. The most dazzling star of the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team, Huang Ru, said, "The reason why the Vietnamese women's football team can do today is thanks to the efforts and hard work of previous generations. We are their successors, so we must strive to contribute to its better development."

The rise of the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team

In 1998, Vietnam held the Vietnam National Women's Football Championship for the first time. At that time, the champion of the Vietnam Women's Football League was Hanoi Women's Football Team, and the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team only won the runner-up.

It was not until 2002 that the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team won the league championship for the first time. From 2002 to 2015, the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team was similar to the Hanoi Women's Football Team, Vietnamese Coal and Mineral Women's Football Team, and Henan Women's Football Team. The league championship changed hands many times. It was not until the current head coach Duan Shi Jinzhi took over the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team in the 2016 season that this team truly became the real king of the Vietnam Women's Football League and began to firmly sit in the throne of the Vietnam Women's Football Team.

The following passage is a comment from head coach Duan Shi Jinzhi to the team, "I have grown up with the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team since I was a child, so I have always hoped that the women's football team here can flourish. However, due to various reasons, the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team has lost many stars in recent years and they have gone to other teams, but I have always done my best to do my job and bring the best results to the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team."

Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team has gradually established its position in the Vietnamese women's football world. The Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team won the Vietnam Women's Football League championship 13 times, and is also the team with the largest number of players to win the Vietnam Football Association Women's Football League Golden Ball Award. In April 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team won the 2025 Women's Football Team Championship.

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