THE SUCCESSOR PROBLEM
Returning from Tashkent (Uzbekistan) on the afternoon of November 4 after completing the Olympic qualifying round with the Vietnamese women's team, coach Mai Duc Chung will meet with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to summarize the journey and give future directions. Mr. Chung's contract with VFF will expire after December 31. The 74-year-old strategist will not sign an extension, but will express his wish to rest and propose to VFF a name to replace him as coach of the women's team.
The Vietnamese women's team will face many new challenges in the future.
The person that coach Mai Duc Chung suggested to VFF is most likely Mr. Akira Ijiri. The Japanese strategist has been coaching the U.20 and U.17 Vietnamese women's teams since April 2019, with nearly 5 years of experience working in Vietnam. Mr. Akira is highly regarded for his expertise with many years of experience, and is also a lecturer in the VFF's B and Pro coaching courses. In 2024, the Vietnamese women's team will only have 1 official tournament (AFF Cup 2024), this is an opportunity for the coaching staff to promote many young players, most of whom are Mr. Akira's students in the U.20 women's team from 2019 to present. In the context of rejuvenating the force, building the next generation with a new playing style, coach Akira Ijiri is the leading candidate. However, VFF will carefully study the list of candidates to choose the most suitable person.
Coach Mai Duc Chung left a huge legacy
After a period of great success with coach Mai Duc Chung, with 6 SEA Games gold medals, 1 AFF Cup title and 1 World Cup appearance, the mainstay generation of the Vietnamese women's team will mostly pass their peak performance next year. Although the Huynh Nhu and Tuyet Dung generations still play an important role, they will gradually step back, giving way to the younger generation of Thanh Nha, Hai Linh, Van Su, Tuyet Ngan, Thu Thuong, Lan Anh, all under 25 years old and "implanted" into the women's team's framework aiming for the 2026 Asian Cup (which is also the 2027 World Cup qualifiers). At the 19th ASIAD and the Olympic qualifiers, coach Mai Duc Chung called up 11 players born after 2000 so that the younger generation can gradually accumulate experience. However, to catch up with their seniors, the young players still have a long way to go.
Expert Doan Minh Xuong shared: "The biggest challenge for the Vietnamese women's team is building the next generation. The golden generation of Vietnamese women's football has brought resounding success, but the players have shown their limitations at the ASIAD and the Olympic qualifiers, when Huynh Nhu and Tuyet Dung have reached their peak of expertise. The gap between the Vietnamese women's team and the top group in Asia is still very large. After the time of coach Mai Duc Chung, I think the VFF must have a synchronous, long-term strategy to build a force from the youth group such as U.20, U.17 to the national team."
STRENGTHENING THE FOUNDATION
Coach Mai Duc Chung has left a good foundation for the Vietnamese women's team for the next coach to inherit. However, Vietnamese women's football does not only "live" on achievements at the national team level. The club level as well as youth training are factors that need to be more solid, so that the Vietnamese women's team can maintain its position. When the top group in the continent with Japan, China, South Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Australia is constantly increasing the gap, while Uzbekistan and the Philippines are rising, standing still means falling behind. The foundation of Vietnamese women's football is still at the club level, but the current national women's football championship and national women's cup with 8 participating teams and a total of 15 to 20 matches/year are not a good launching pad for the Vietnamese women's team to break through.
We will have to find a new generation of players to follow Huynh Nhu's footsteps.
Coach Mai Duc Chung affirmed: "Vietnamese women's football has a good next generation, for example, at VFF there are 2 generations of U.16 and U.14 women, or young players being trained by clubs. However, I hope that more women's football classes will be opened, and more clubs will participate. When I and my team participated in an international tournament, I confided to my colleagues that the national team only took players from 4 training centers, they were very surprised. I hope that the women's tournament will not only have 6 or 8 teams, but will have 14 teams participating, from there there will be more options".
Expert Doan Minh Xuong assessed: "VFF needs to expand the competition system for Vietnamese women's football, especially in youth tournaments. In addition to upgrading the national championship system and youth tournaments, VFF needs to coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to have a plan to expand the women's football system, work with localities to support investment in training female players. To achieve continental and world goals is very difficult for the Vietnamese women's team, even playing with the Philippines is very difficult. When coach Mai Duc Chung leaves, Vietnamese women's football will face many challenges. To turn challenges into opportunities and reach new heights, Vietnamese women's football needs the participation of the whole society, promoting many resources, and cannot only invest in the top part".
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