Vietnam National Team: Is It Time for Change?

19/08/2025 14:12:00 TrophyTracker

The Vietnamese women’s team’s loss in the 2025 AFF Women’s Cup semifinal against U23 Australia once again exposed a recurring issue in Vietnamese women’s football: the role of Coach Mai Đức Chung. Even at over seventy, Coach Chung remains deeply committed and resilient in guiding the national women’s team.

However, from another angle, Coach Mai Đức Chung has also demonstrated certain shortcomings, both in terms of technical expertise and age. The recent defeat was partly due to his strategy for approaching the match and organizing the team’s tactics.

It was evident that the proactive attacking style deployed by the Vietnamese women’s team in that semifinal did not work out, as our players were dominated from the very beginning and barely managed to advance the ball during the first half. It wasn’t until U23 Australia slowed down in the second half that Vietnam could start attacking and managed to score late in the game.

If the Vietnamese women’s team had made it to today’s final, discussing Coach Mai Đức Chung’s position would be highly sensitive. However, since Huỳnh Như and her teammates are only competing for the bronze medal, the issue is no longer so awkward to address.

Coach Chung may well remain for the 33rd SEA Games, given the limited preparation time for the Vietnamese women’s team. Yet, for the goal of qualifying for the World Cup via the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, it seems VFF should seek a younger coach with more innovative tactical ideas.

VFF should probably start considering a replacement for Coach Mai Đức Chung. Photo: Hoàng Linh

The inspiring journey of the Myanmar women’s team under Coach Uki Tetsuro at the 2025 AFF Women’s Cup is also a valuable lesson for VFF. Despite having fewer resources and investment than Vietnam, Myanmar’s women’s team under Tetsuro has managed to both rejuvenate their squad and achieve performance goals simultaneously.

Regarding rejuvenation, the Vietnamese women’s team has not really succeeded, as the mainstays are still long-serving veterans like Kim Thanh, Chương Thị Kiều, and Huỳnh Như. From an achievement standpoint, it’s difficult to be satisfied with a third or fourth place finish at the 2025 AFF Women’s Cup, especially since Australia only sent their U23 team and Myanmar or Thailand are not out of reach for Vietnam.

Therefore, the matter of finding a replacement for Coach Mai Đức Chung in the Vietnamese women’s team needs to be considered carefully. VFF seems to have already taken steps by appointing Japanese coach Okiyama Masahiko to lead the U16 women’s team.

Mr. Masahiko is also the head coach of the U20 women’s team, and if VFF wants a coach who understands Vietnamese women’s football and can efficiently rejuvenate the squad, Coach Masahiko could be a strong candidate.

Of course, moving from youth teams to the national level is a challenging transition, but even if it’s not Mr. Masahiko, VFF should still look to appoint a suitable successor to Coach Mai Đức Chung. While his passion and dedication are unwavering, age is not something that can be simply overlooked, and we all understand that the Vietnamese women’s team will eventually need a new head coach to replace Mr. Chung—the only question is who and when.

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