Manila, Philippines — Coming into the 2024 AFF Women’s Futsal Championship that will be held at the Philsports Arena from November 16-21, all eyes may be on regional powerhouse Thailand.
However, gliding in like a shark is Vietnam.
They defeated Thailand on their homecourt in the recently concluded NSDF Women’s Futsal Championship. This 2024, the Vietnamese in seven games, won four of their matches and drew three.
A clear indication of how far they have come is when they drew with Iran 2-2 in the Lanzhou International Women’s Futsal Tournament. Previously, Iran dealt them one of their worst losses in team history with a 5-nil hiding in 2018.
Since then, they have finished fourth place – their best – in the 2018 Asian Cup and bagged the silver medal in the 2021 Southeast Asian Games.
Coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang has presided over the rampaging Vietnamese national team that is ranked 11thin the world; two notches higher than their previous #13 ranking. This is based on the official FIFA rankings released this month of October 2024.
They are also ranked the fourth best squad in Asia.
For this AFF Women’s Futsal Championship in Manila, they will feature top scorer Tran Thi Thuy Trang, a bemedalled player who won a 2024 SEA Gold Medal in three-a-side football including a silver medal in futsal. She recently retired from 11-a-side football to concentrate on futsal.
Joining Thuy Trang are Kim Phung, K’Thua, Hong Nhung, Thu Xuan, Tu Anh, and Bien Thi Hangh.
They are currently wrapping up their training camp in Hanoi in preparation for this tournament.
Once in Manila, Vietnam will earn a bye on opening day, November 16. That will allow them to get the measure of Myanmar when they open their AFF Women’s Futsal Championship account the next day, November 17, at 4pm.
They also battle Indonesia at 4pm on November 18 and host the Philippines at 7pm on the 19th of November.
The much-anticipated rematch – and some wonder if this a previous of the finals – with Thailand at 4pm of November 20.
The final day of competition is November 21 with the battle for third and fourth place will be played at 4pm. The finals is at 7pm.
