After such a proud effort, football people should seek an answer to the question: how should we take advantage of this opportunity to improve football?
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| The Vietnamese women's team defended strongly against the overwhelming attack of the defending champion, the United States (Photo: AP). |
In 1998, the Jamaican men's football team won their first World Cup ticket. At that time, the Jamaican team only had seven players playing abroad. Currently, the Jamaican team has many Premier League stars such as Bailey, Antonio, Gray... However, they have not had another chance to participate in the World Cup.
Also at the 1998 World Cup, the Japanese national team participated in the World Cup for the first time with 100% of the players playing in the country. The tournament in France also became the premise for many Japanese players to 'go West'. But unlike Jamaica, Japanese football in general and the national team in particular have continuously improved. They regularly participate in the World Cup and have reached the knockout round 4/7 times.
For Vietnam, participating in the 2023 Women's World Cup is a great achievement and something to be proud of. But looking at the 'two paths' that Jamaica and Japan have followed, we can see that the World Cup should only be a milestone on the journey of development. This tournament is not (and cannot be) something that opens a new chapter or changes the face of football.
Vietnamese women's football still faces many difficulties. The women's national team receives a lot of attention from the audience, but the women's National Championship (VĐQG) does not. The 2022 National Women's Football Championship has only eight participating clubs. Most of the clubs still depend on the state budget. The number of spectators attending the stadium is not even a fraction of that of their male counterparts. "It is very difficult to maintain a club, let alone develop it. So we should not expect that to change much after the 2023 World Cup," VFF Vice President Tran Anh Tu honestly shared.
Before the 2023 World Cup, some sources said that Thanh Nha had received offers from European clubs, with a salary of 5,000 USD/month. After the tournament, there will be more invitations from abroad sent to other female players.
What Huynh Nhu did in Portugal paved the way: Vietnamese female players can absolutely try their hand abroad if they are well prepared and given the right conditions. We cannot be sure that 100% of players who go abroad will be successful, but that is a good opportunity that the World Cup brings. Such deals are also a catalyst for more people (and sponsors) to pay more attention to women's football.
After such a proud effort, football people should seek answers to the question: how should we take advantage of this opportunity to elevate football, while helping players have more opportunities to develop their careers both domestically and internationally.
The National Championship is a playground for players to compete and develop. The foundation for the national team to develop strongly can only be a well-invested and professionally organized National Championship. That is the path that Japanese football has chosen after France 98.
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