Two foreign players from Japan and Pakistan have their debut match with Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club

On the afternoon of April 24, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club had a friendly match in preparation for the semi-final match of the AFC Women's Champions League 2024-2025 (Asian Women's C1) at Thong Nhat Stadium. This was the first match of Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club after winning the 2025 National Cup.

In this match, coach Kim Chi's team had the presence of Pakistan women's team captain Maria Khan and Japanese midfielder Sakura Yoshida when facing the youth team of Lyon Academy Ho Chi Minh City. In which, Maria (yellow shirt, born in 1990) was pulled back to test in the back line, sticking to the left wing.

Sakura plays as a midfielder and was born in 2000. She has dual Japanese and American citizenship and played for the U20 US team. The Asian striker made his first appearances in Vietnam with his skillful and fast feet and was highly appreciated by his teammates.

Despite their debut match with coach Kim Chi, these two foreign players were unable to bring victory to the representative of Ho Chi Minh City against the young opponent. According to coach Kim Chi, this is the first match so there are still many things to improve and hopes that the foreign players will integrate better with about 3 more friendly matches left.

In this match, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club lost 1-2 in the first half, and lost 1-4 overall. Coach Kim Chi used all the players in hand, including young players, to find suitable factors for the squad to prepare for the Asian Women's Cup C1.

In addition to the two new foreign players, center back Aubrey Goodwill still shows solidity and passion.

Meanwhile, striker Sabrina Marie Cabrera is gradually improving and adapting better than in the quarter-finals. Coach Kim Chi said that there will be suitable tactics for Sabrina to promote her strengths in the Asian Women's C1 semi-finals.

In this match, the HCMC women's club also did not have the strongest force due to the absence of K'Thua and Golden Ball Thuy Trang (who is training with the Vietnam women's futsal team). In addition, two overseas Vietnamese Chelsea Lien Le, Ashley Tram Anh or Vietnamese-Canadian striker Nguyen Hoang Nam Mi were also not in Vietnam and will join the team from the beginning of May.

According to plan, the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club will have 3 more friendly matches before leaving for Wuhan, China on May 18.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hai-ngoai-binh-nhat-ban-pakistan-co-tran-ra-mat-clb-nu-tp-hcm-196250424190915199.htm