AFC Champions League Women 2024 - 2025: Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club dreams of reaching the final

Maria Jamila Khan in the Pakistan women's team jersey - Photo: PFF

Compared to the quarter-finals, the HCMC women's club has 4 foreign players and 3 overseas Vietnamese players to prepare for the semi-final match with host Wuhan Jiangda (China) taking place in Wuhan on May 21. This is also the place where the final match will take place.

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Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club made history when it defeated strong opponent Abu Dhabi (UAE) 5-4 in the quarter-finals to enter the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League Women's 2024 - 2025 for the first time. But the Vietnamese girls still do not seem to want to stop dreaming of continuing to write history.

Indeed, the HCMC Women's Club showed that they could play even better than in the quarter-finals, when the two foreign players Sabrina Cabrera, Aubrey Goodwill and the two Vietnamese-American players Chelsea Le and Ashley Tram Anh had more time to integrate. On the other hand, the opponent Wuhan Jiangda in the semi-finals was not too strong.

Therefore, the HCMC Women's Club has invested more in its personnel to achieve the best results. With a significant amount of support from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the participating clubs, the HCMC Women's Club has actively sought foreign players and overseas Vietnamese players.

As a result, the three new faces selected are midfielder and captain of the Pakistan women's team Maria Jamila Khan (Pakistani-American), Sakura Yoshida (Japanese-American) and Vietnamese-Canadian player Nammi Nguyen.

These are the 3 players that coach Doan Thi Kim Chi needs to fill in the positions that the HCMC women's club is showing deficiencies in, which were revealed in the quarter-final match against Abu Dhabi.

Notably, Maria Jamila Khan can also play as a goalkeeper if needed, as she started her career in this position. With her short stature, goalkeeper Quach Thu Em was exploited by Abu Dhabi FC and scored in the quarter-final match.

Coach Kim Chi shared: "We have to balance the positions that the team is lacking. Wuhan Jiangda is not a weak team, so we have to prepare well."

Integration is the biggest issue

Wuhan Jiangda lost 1-2 at home to Abu Dhabi in the group stage and only qualified for the next round. But in the quarter-finals, they surprisingly defeated the championship candidate Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (Japan) 6-5 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw in 120 minutes in Saitama. Therefore, Wuhan Jiangda's strength cannot be underestimated.

Highly appreciating her opponents, Coach Doan Thi Kim Chi also hopes that the foreign players and overseas Vietnamese players will promote their abilities to help Ho Chi Minh City Club win. Especially with 2 foreign players and 1 newly arrived overseas Vietnamese player.

"Maria Jamila Khan was born in the US and was trained here. She joined the team in early April and showed good skills. Hopefully, Jamila Khan's (35 years old) experience will help the team in difficult times," coach Kim Chi shared.

Of the two remaining new faces, Sakura Yoshida was called up to the US U20 women's team in 2019. She is the type of attacking midfielder that Ho Chi Minh City women's club is lacking. Meanwhile, Nammi Nguyen has a good height (1m67), can play as a center back and defensive midfielder.

Because she can play as a domestic player thanks to her Vietnamese nationality, Nammi Nguyen helps coach Kim Chi have more options in arranging the squad. Yoshida will arrive in Ho Chi Minh City in the next few days, while Nammi Nguyen will not arrive until early May due to her studies.

Currently, the integration level of the above players is what coach Kim Chi is most concerned about. She said: "Foreign players have very good thinking and football skills, the only thing to worry about is their integration level. For example, striker Sabrina Cabrera performed very well during training, but did not play well in the match.

This may be due to her mentality and lack of understanding with her teammates, which has prevented her from fully utilizing her strengths. Hopefully, this extra training time will help the foreign players understand each other better and integrate as quickly as possible."

During her trip back to Vietnam to play for the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club, midfielder Nammi Nguyen will likely be called up by coach Mai Duc Chung to the Vietnam women's team in early May to prepare for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers. The Vietnam women's team is scheduled to play a friendly match with Werder Bremen (Germany) on May 16 at Hang Day Stadium.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/afc-champions-league-nu-2024-2025-clb-nu-tp-hcm-mo-vao-chung-ket-20250411103210902.htm