Vietnam excites over female soccer team’s debut at FIFA Tournament

The Vietnamese women's soccer team makes its historic debut at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. They will face Team USA., a prominent global contender, in the first round of Group E scheduled on Friday morning at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand. This marks the first time a Vietnamese team, male or female, has qualified for the FIFA World Cup.

Despite the low chances of winning against the front-runner and the world's No.1, Vietnamese people are excited about their national team's participation in the tournament. The front-running American team won the tournament consecutively in 2015 and 2019.

Ranked 32nd globally, Vietnam's women's soccer team achieved their historic entry into the FIFA tournament by defeating Thailand and Taiwan in the AFC Asian Cup Playoffs held in February. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh praised the team as "diamond girls" for their resilience in challenging circumstances. Huỳnh Như (age 32), the only player from the team in the overseas league in Portugal, plays a pivotal role in teamwork and strategy. Team leader Trần Thị Thùy Trang (age 35) expressed enthusiasm for the team's first historic game against Team USA., acknowledging the challenge while embracing the opportunity to learn from the world's strongest team. She added that their tactics include a surprise attack after defense to counter the opponent effectively.

OPTA, the online sports data provider, predicts an 86.7% chance of the U.S. winning the match and a 4.5% chance for Vietnam. Among the 32 tournament participants, Vietnam has the second lowest possibility of winning, with only 0.65%, just above Panama's 0.36%.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com