Vietnam's women to 'make World Cup history': coach

At a ceremony to see the team off on their journey to the Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, Chung was optimistic and promised to bring out his and his team’s best at the tournament.

Vietnam are in Group E and will face off against defending champions the U.S., as well as Portugal and the Netherlands, on July 22, July 27 and August 1, respectively.

All three are strong teams.

The U.S. have won the Women’s World Cup four times, while the Netherlands made it to the finals once but lost to the U.S.

"Just a single goal from the Vietnamese women’s team would already be a hallmark for us," Chung said.

He further anticipated that one player likely to make that goal would be midfielder Bich Thuy, who scored the 2-1 goal against Taiwan that secured Vietnam a ticket to this year's Cup.

Formerly injured player Huynh Nhu has recovered and is practicing regularly with the team, Chung added.

Vietnam's women's football team are at a ceremony on July 4, 2023 to bid them off to participate in the World Cup 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Thoa

Speaking at the same press conference, Nhu said the team had been training intensely and "properly" ever since winning a spot in the tournament.

"Participating in the World Cup is not only my dream, but the entire team’s. Not just for the women players, but also for the men’s team and the fans," she said.

To prepare for the World Cup, the Vietnam Football Federation has sent the women’s team to participate in training programs in Japan and Europe, sparring against tough opponents like Poland or Germany. The team also received VND1 billion ($42,176) from VFF’s sponsor partners as encouragement.

Tran Quoc Tuan, VFF chairman, said the team’s participation in the World Cup is a historic moment, for both Vietnamese football and the country’s women’s football scene.

The Vietnamese team will fly to New Zealand on July 5, 17 days before their first match in the tournament.