The Vietnamese women's team is expected to have a spectacular transformation at the 33rd SEA Games.

Unlike the AFF Cup 2025, the 33rd SEA Games will witness the optimal version of the Vietnamese women's team, when coach Mai Duc Chung and his team reach their peak and perfect form.

Vietnam women's team finds form again

Although the bronze medal at the AFF Cup 2025 of the Vietnamese women's team did not meet initial expectations, this is an opportunity for coach Mai Duc Chung and his team to frankly assess their strengths and weaknesses to make appropriate adjustments for the upcoming journey, most recently the goal of defending the SEA Games title.

Vietnam women's team determined to win SEA Games 33

Photo: MINH TU

Although the 1-2 defeat to the Australian women's team showed the limitations in physique, fitness, and performance of the over-30-year-old pillars of the Vietnamese women's team, there are still objective factors that need to be discussed.

The Vietnamese women's team did not compete in official tournaments in 2024 and the first half of 2025, due to the lack of international tournaments during this period. Coach Mai Duc Chung's students only played club-level tournaments (an average of 12 to 15 matches/year) and friendly matches during national team training sessions. Before the AFF Cup 2025, the Vietnamese women's team only had the chance to practice playing in 3 matches in the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, all against very weak opponents. When facing a strong team like Australia, with most of the players trained year-round in the Australian national championship, it was understandable that the Vietnamese women were exhausted.

At the same time, due to the lack of an official tournament to verify for over a year, coach Mai Duc Chung mainly reused the pillars, with old faces, no longer having any new points in playing style, or opportunities to improve physical strength and fighting ability. However, at SEA Games 33, the picture of the Vietnamese women's team will be brighter, when the "diamond girls" have enough favorable conditions.

First, the Vietnamese women's players will have 3 months to play in the national championship (from September to November) with at least 12 club-level matches. This is an important factor to help Huynh Nhu and her teammates regain their competitive spirit, physical strength and find their peak form. Training and competing in a continuous system will help the players focus and be in a more prepared state, compared to the time before the AFF Cup when coach Mai Duc Chung had to train his physical strength because his students had not played for a long time.

Also from the national championship, coach Mai Duc Chung will look for new elements to upgrade the national team. Mr. Chung affirmed that he has a rejuvenation plan and will carefully select to make the Vietnamese women's team stronger in the next training session.

A MEDIUM OPPONENT

The Vietnamese women's team lost to Australia in the semi-finals of the 2025 AFF Cup. Although they only sent a U.23 squad, Australia is still very strong. Remember, the Oceania representative reached the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup, only to stop before England. The young squad of a World Cup-caliber team is obviously still at a very different level than Southeast Asia (or even Asia). Therefore, the loss to Australia is not a setback for the Vietnamese women's team, although the limitations of the players have been exposed and need to be corrected.

At the SEA Games, the Vietnamese women's team will no longer "bump" into Australia. Huynh Nhu and her teammates will only face Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar. These are opponents that the Vietnamese women's team is capable of defeating.

After a period of rejuvenation, the Thai women's team has gradually lost its position. Over the past 10 years, the Thai women's team has faced Vietnam from a draw to a loss, most recently a double defeat (0-1, 1-3) at the AFF Cup 2025. Myanmar has also improved, but is still not at the level to defeat the Vietnamese women's team. Most notably is the Philippines, however, "The Azkals" have not found stability due to constant changes in their forces and psychological instability.

At the 33rd SEA Games, the Vietnamese women's team is still the number 1 candidate for the championship. The team will gather in November before leaving for Thailand to compete in the tournament. If they prepare carefully and find promising players after screening the squad, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team will still have a good chance of defending the Southeast Asian title.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-nu-viet-nam-duoc-ky-vong-se-lot-xac-ngoan-muc-o-sea-games-33-185250821220340508.htm