Vietnam drew 2-2 with Taiwan in the final round, winning the top spot in Group D to enter the 2025 Asian women's futsal finals.
Vietnam meets Taiwan, who have already secured a place in the final round after winning against Myanmar and Macau in the first two matches. The meeting in the final match of Group D this afternoon, January 19, is only about deciding the winner and the loser. Vietnam only needs a draw to reach the goal because they have a goal difference of +25, while their opponent has +22.
Vietnam is also considered stronger, ranking 11th, 14 places higher than Taiwan in the FIFA rankings. But with a relaxed mentality, coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang is not too concerned about the results, but considers this an opportunity for the whole team to practice against a high-quality opponent.
In the third minute, Vietnam raised the first warning when Trinh Nguyen Thanh Hang broke through on the right wing and hit the post. But it was Taiwan who took the lead. In the 10th minute, Chen Min-huang shot from distance into the top corner, leaving goalkeeper Ngo Nguyen Thuy Linh unable to react. However, Liu Chih-ling gave Taiwan the lead again in the 17th minute.
In the second half, Vietnam equalized a minute later with a close-range finish from Le Thi Thanh Ngan, from a good cross from Bien Thi Hang. In the 25th minute, the team almost took the lead if Tran Thi Thuy Trang had finished more accurately when goalkeeper Ou Yi-shian had rushed far from the goal. Five minutes later, goalkeeper Thuy Linh excellently denied Min-huang's shot in a one-on-one situation.
The save motivated Vietnam to continue to push forward to find a goal and was rewarded in the 39th minute. Bien Thi Hang broke through from the left wing into the middle and then scored diagonally to seal the score at 2-2.
The 2025 Asian Women's Futsal Championship Qualifiers will take place from January 11 to January 19. The 16 teams will be divided into four groups and compete in a round-robin format, with the four winners, four runners-up and the best third-placed team advancing to the finals, which will take place in China from May 7 to May 18. The three teams that have already secured their places are host China, defending champions Iran and defending runners-up Japan. These are also the three top-seeded teams.
With the 11th position in FIFA, Vietnam will be in the second seed pot. This helps the team avoid many strong opponents to be able to go deep.
In the two final rounds, Vietnam stopped in the group stage in 2015, then reached the semi-finals in 2018 before losing 0-5 to Iran. In the third-place match, Vietnam lost 2-3 to Thailand in the penalty shootout, after a 0-0 draw in both regulation and extra time.
In 2024, the team won the Southeast Asian championship and the Thai international futsal tournament, and also won a silver medal at the international tournament in China. Coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang was also featured on the website.Futsal PlanetTop 10 women's futsal team coaches in 2024.
VN (according to VnExpress)