Wandering around with difficulties and obstacles
Looking back at the journey of many years, it would not be an exaggeration to say that even professionals can hardly believe that Vietnamese women's football has achieved good results in such a difficult context. If men's football is difficult in one way, then women's football must be difficult in ten, difficult in a hundred ways, stemming from many reasons.
That is the prejudice about women playing high-intensity sports like football. Then when the prejudice is overcome, the development environment is not really good, from local conditions, facilities of training centers, to salary and bonus regimes, development opportunities...
It turns out that the National Women's Football Championship has also gone for nearly 3 decades, but the number of teams participating in each season has never reached 2 digits. There have also been quite a few localities building women's football teams, but then "died young", leaving a few places to become pillars. It is not surprising that they are Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City - 2 localities that still have 2 clubs participating in the national championship.
Phong Phu Ha Nam and Than Khoang San Vietnam are 2 units that can bring competition for many years, Thai Nguyen T&T is being built and heavily invested, Son La is somewhat weak due to external difficulties but is also very eager in the search and contribution to women's football.
Coach Mai Duc Chung, who has been attached to the Vietnamese women's team for many years, has repeatedly expressed concern about the conditions of women's football in the country. He believes that female players are still disadvantaged compared to many other football backgrounds, from training regimes to competition opportunities.
Clearly, with too few localities, units, and operating centers, the number of players is not large. Not stopping there, not everywhere has good conditions to serve good training. The story of Thai Nguyen women's football was once mentioned as an example. There was a period when the team faced financial difficulties, many players had to consider leaving the team to work as workers. Only when receiving investment and sponsorship from businesses can the team survive and participate in the national championship.
Looking at the national championship, one can also see part of that reality. In the past 15 years, the tournament has mainly been associated with a main sponsor, Thai Son Bac Electrical Equipment Trading Co., Ltd. This is both an honor for businesses for their love and concern for women's football, but also points out a point that men's football also has: It is too difficult to make money.
Currently, the domestic women's football league system is still maintained with many levels. In addition to the National Championship, there is also the National Cup and youth tournaments such as U16, U19.
These tournaments create a competitive environment for young players, and at the same time help localities maintain training activities. However, with the limited number of teams, the competition density is still not really high.
Solutions
Experts believe that to develop women's football sustainably, it is necessary to expand the training network in localities and create more teams to participate in the domestic league system.
Veteran commentator Tieu Huyen said: "The results of the recent tournament need to be frankly recognized. Last year we praised the team when they won the right to participate in the World Cup, but this year when the team stopped early, we also have to look at reality. However, Vietnamese women's football still has positive changes.
Although the number of clubs has not increased, the interest in teams has improved, and the conditions for fields and training have also improved. The Ho Chi Minh City women's club competing in the AFC Champions League also shows the competitiveness of Vietnamese women's football at the continental level.
According to commentator Tieu Huyen, the national team coaching staff is also testing many new factors, including Vietnamese-origin players returning to play. She said: "Coach Mai Duc Chung has given opportunities to some new players. If these players integrate well and meet professional requirements, they can become a supplementary resource for the national team in the future.
However, building a strong team or developing the entire football background cannot happen in a short time. This must be a step-by-step process, with a long-term strategy and persistent investment”.
Editor Nguyen Ngoc Tran also believes that the Vietnamese women's team is facing the problem of reinventing its force after a long period of success. When a team maintains its framework for many years, at a certain point it will need to change to create new momentum. Currently, the coaching staff has begun to give more opportunities to young faces to find factors that can shoulder the role in the future. However, for a young player to reach international competition level and have enough bravery in the national team is a long process, and immediate replacement cannot be required.
From a training perspective, domestic women's football is still in the stage of building a foundation. Some centers and clubs have paid more attention to youth training, investing in facilities and training conditions for players. This is a positive sign to help young players have a more systematic development environment than before. However, to create a class of players with uniform quality, more accumulation time is needed, from selection, training to actual competition.
Another issue is that the competition environment and international clashes opportunities for female players are still limited. Playing regularly and facing many different opponents will help players mature faster both professionally and in terms of competitive psychology. If domestic tournaments are organized more, and clubs have more opportunities to participate in regional and continental playgrounds, young players will accumulate better experience to soon meet the requirements of the national team.
In addition, the development of women's football also requires stronger participation from localities and the school sports system. When the number of players increases and the player base is wider, the possibility of prominent faces appearing for the national team will also be higher. This is a process that requires a long-term strategy, synchronous investment and persistence over many years to bring about clear results.
The failure of the women's national team at the 2026 Asian Cup raises the requirement for a generational transition. That will have to be done according to steps suitable to the current situation and that is the job of the new coaching staff. But VFF will have to further promote its tasks in the Vietnam Women's Football Development Strategy, because it is already 2026.
What the results will be by 2027 will be summarized, but fundamental reform - starting from training and expanding training, is still always an important aspect to create a good successor force in both quantity and quality.
