Vietnam’s women’s team reconvene for third round of 2020 Olympic qualifiers

In his 25-player list sent to the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, head coach Mai Duc Chung put faith in young players, as some are promoted from the women’s U19 team, including Nguyen Thi Tuyet Ngan (Vinacomin, foward), Ngan Thi Van Su (Hanoi, forward), Nguyen Thi Truc Huong (Vinacomin, midfielder), Cu Thi Huynh Nhu (Ho Chi Minh City, defender), and Tran Thi Ngoc Anh (goalkeeper).

Vinacomin defenders Luong Thi Thu Thuong and Dinh Thi Thuy Dung are the two newbies called up to the national team for the coming training camp.

The supplementation of young players also aims to prepare human resources for future missions, including the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, to be hosted in Vietnam in 2021, Chung said.

Members of the Vietnam women's team in action during a training session.

As scheduled, the national squad will have their first training session at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Centre this afternoon (December 24) under the guidance of the coaching staff, including head coach Mai Duc Chung and assistants Nguyen Anh Tuan, Nguyen Thi Kim Hong, Doan Minh Hai and Doan Thi Kim Chi.

After the New Year holiday, the team will head to Cam Pha (Quang Ninh Province) for a week of fitness training before returning to Hanoi to practise tactics and skills from January 10. Immediately after the Lunar New Year (Tet), Chung’s troops will depart for the Republic of Korea to participate in the third round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifiers.

In round three of the Olympics qualifiers, Vietnam have been drawn in Group A, together with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and Myanmar. Meanwhile, Group B consists of Australia, China, Thailand and Chinese Taipei. The teams will play in a round robin format (February 3-9) to decide the top two teams from each group for the play-off tournament. The two best teams of the play-off tournament, to be played on a home and away basis on March 6 to 11, will join hosts Japan as the three representatives of Asia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.