Women's football has very different characteristics from men's football, especially in Asian countries that still have a strong male-dominated ideology. Not to mention, at the 32nd SEA Games held in Cambodia, there were 9 countries participating in women's football including: Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore. This is the largest number of teams participating in women's football at a SEA Games, when in previous games only about 5-6 teams participated. If the host country is not interested, women's football will easily be cut from the competition program.

Coach Mai Duc Chung and his team were welcomed by a large number of reporters and fans at Noi Bai airport at noon on August 3. Photo: QUY LUONG

If that’s the case in the region, what about the country? I remember the early days when women’s football was just starting to appear in District 1 (Ho Chi Minh City), which is considered the cradle of this sport. In the 90s of the last century, a leader of the city’s sports industry tried his best to prevent women’s football from developing. Even when the Ho Chi Minh City women’s football team went to play a friendly match, he fiercely chased and blocked the car.

Not too far away, just last year, the 2022 National Women's Football Championship was supposed to have 7 participating teams, but Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City took up all 4 teams when divided into Hanoi I, Hanoi II, Ho Chi Minh City I, Ho Chi Minh City II; the rest were Vietnam Coal and Minerals, Phong Phu Ha Nam, Thai Nguyen. Not to mention the physique of Vietnamese female players is increasingly shorter than their predecessors. Besides, finding sponsors for the women's football tournament has long been a difficult problem for sports leaders.

In recent years, women's football in our country has received more attention, and the players' lives have gradually improved. However, the media still does not pay much attention to this sport, and when writing about women's football, they only complain about poverty and hardship, causing headaches for coaches. In a conversation, coach Doan Thi Kim Chi shared: "When the press discusses women's football, please don't cry for us. Because when reporters write like that, parents are afraid and do not let their children play football, making it very difficult for us to recruit players."

Ahead of the 2023 Women's World Cup, many businesses have sponsored the Vietnamese women's team and its players. However, when the tournament in Australia and New Zealand ends, whether the Vietnamese women's football team and Vietnamese women's football will continue to receive attention and support from society is still a big question. Coach Mai Duc Chung shared: "After the 2023 Women's World Cup, we still have a lot of work to do if we want to continue to be present in the biggest tournament on the planet. In the future, female players must improve their height, Vietnamese women's football needs to develop more with movements from school sports...".

Hopefully, Vietnamese women's football will not fall into the situation of "only clapping when happy".

DO TUAN

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