Football

Players will have one and a half months to train for the 20th Asian Games. — Photo courtesy of VFF

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's star striker and team captain Huỳnh Như is notably absent on the latest list of players on the national women's football team, as coach Hoàng Văn Phúc draws up plans for the 2026 Asian Games (ASIAD) campaign.

Phúc announced 29 names on August 6, and his players begin training on August 7 in Hà Nội ahead of the start of the competition in September.

On the list are four goalkeepers, 11 defenders, 10 midfielders and four strikers.

For the attack, only Phạm Hải Yến is an experienced goal scorer. The other three forwards are young and have made only a handful of appearances for the national team.

Như, the top scorer who captained Việt Nam in all of the team's recent international tournaments, has unexpectedly been sidelined. The 34-year-old has scored 70 goals in 124 appearances for the national team and is one of the few Vietnamese footballers, male or female, to have played professionally abroad.

No reason has been given for her absence.

Players will practise and compete with local clubs before an intensive training course in Japan later this month.

At this year's ASIAD, Việt Nam are in Group A with Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the Japan. 

It will likely be a tough tournament for Việt Nam, as Japan are defending champions and have won all matches between the two sides. In the 2026 Asian Cup held earlier this year, Japan won 4-0 over Việt Nam in the group round.

Taipei have improved remarkably in recent years. Although the team rank three steps lower than Việt Nam in the world ranking, they defeated Việt Nam 1-0 in the 2026 Asian Cup, narrowing their head-to-head record gap to three wins, two draws and five losses.

Meanwhile, Thailand are Việt Nam's regular arch-rivals in the ASEAN region. They have never been an easy team to beat, as frequent title holders or runners-up in both Southeast Asian championships and the SEA Games.

The 20th ASIAD women's football competition will be held from September 14 to October 2 in Nagoya, Japan. — VNS