Football

Việt Nam Coal and Minerals players and coaches celebrate their National Women's Football Cup victory. VNS Photo Khiếu Thanh Hà

HƯNG YÊN — Việt Nam Coal and Minerals came from behind to win the first National Women's Football Cup on March 1 at the Hưng Yên Province's PVF Football Centre.

Coal and Minerals beat title favourite Hà Nội 1 5-4 in a penalty shootout after the match ended 2-2 in official time.

Hà Nội went ahead with two goals in the first seven minutes.

Thanh Nhã opened the scoring with a straight shot at the fifth minute. Two minutes later, Phạm Thị Hải Yến made a sprint and overcame two Coal and Minerals defenders to double the score.

Coal and Minerals scored a goal to narrow the result at the 27th minute. Hà Thị Nhài controlled the ball near Hà Nội 1's box, and her banana-shaped shot reached the high far corner of the net past goalkeeper Kiều Oanh.

Coach Đoàn Minh Hải made five changes in the rest time of the match and pushed his players up to find another goal.

Their heavy pressure made Hanoian make a mistake at the 85th minute and Coal and Minerals were given a free kick.

Nhài continued to shine as her low kick beat all Hà Nội 1 defenders and the goalie to find the back of the net.

Hà Nội attacked in the last minutes but could not find another goal.

In the penalties, Khổng Thị Hằng was the hero of the match as she denied a kick by Hà Nội 1's best young female player of 2022 Vũ Thị Hoa. Meanwhile, all of her teammates were successful with their tasks.

"I am happy with the win and proud of my teammates today," said Nhài after the match.

Hà Thị Nhài scores a double in the final match. Photo of VFF

"I did not think that we could win the match, especially when we conceded two goals early in the game. But we worked hard to overcome all difficulties to earn the title. Luck was by our side today. My coach encouraged us a lot. He asked us to play with our best so whatever the result was we could still walk away with high heads," she said.

Speaking with reporters, coach Hải could not hide his happiness taking the first Cup trophy for Coal and Minerals.

"We are all over the moon now. This title results from our great effort since the group round. My players were confident and determined. They surprised some people when they beat defending champions HCM City to advance to the semi-finals. They made me believe that we would not lose even when we were behind 2-0 after the first 10 minutes," he said.

"After several years of rejuvenation, my players have made progress. I believe that they will again make good results in coming tournaments, including the national championship later this year," he said.

Sitting a distance away from the crazy crowd, Hà Nội 1 coach Đặng Quốc Tuấn looked sad. He still could not believe about the loss.

"It is regrettable that we lost this match. Everything happened so fast, things changed in a blink," Tuấn told Việt Nam News.

Việt Nam Coal and Minerals players pay tribute to their supporters. VNS Photo Khiếu Thanh Hà

"My team had a brilliant start but could not maintain the lead before losing the cup. We were so close to it," he said.

Coal and Minerals secured a bonus of VNĐ200 million as the champion and were voted the most fair-play team. They also earned two individual awards as Hằng was the best goalkeeper and midfielder Nguyễn Thị Vạn was the MVP of the tournament.

Hà Nội 1 bagged VNĐ150 million and striker Nhã was the top scorer with four goals. VNS