Football 

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam players are putting the final touches to their plans to win the AFF Women's U19 Football Championships on home ground next week.

The team have been training hard for three weeks in HCM City, which is also the venue of the tournament being held June 9-18.

During the camp, they had two friendly matches, beating Âu Cơ FC 6-2 and the HCM City FC's U19 squad one nil.

“We have trained for several weeks to improve our physique and technique. We have also focused on strengthening our game understanding while playing to push our attack efficiency," said goalkeeper Lê Thị Thu.

"We all want to sharpen our skills and show our best on the field. Playing on home turf will be a great advantage for us and we also want to receive strong support from home fans."

The 18-year-old, who was Việt Nam's number one goalie at the recent AFC Women's U20 Cup in Uzbekistan, said personally she wanted to protect her sheet and help her teammates feel secure in defence so that they could head out for better attacks. 

Teammate Nguyễn Thị Thùy Nhi said she has learnt many useful lessons during these training weeks, alongside her fellow Vietnamese players.

“Coach Okiyama Masahiko created a lot of excitement and motivation for us through his exercises. He is meticulous and careful about tactics. What we have learned from him will help us to play well, not only in the championship next week, but also in our games in the future," Nhi said.

"We have improved a lot in our personal ability and team's connection and combination. I believe that we will be at our peak form in this tournament, which will help us get the highest result.”

In the upcoming tournament, Việt Nam are in Group A with Myanmar, Laos and Timor Leste. Group B gathers Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Malaysia.

Nhi said Myanmar would be the most difficult one to come up against in the group stage.

“They are all strong but Myanmar are the toughest, as we have seen their seniors' playing in regional competitions. We must be focused in every match and try to win all of our games to qualify for the next round," Nhi said.

Captain Lưu Hoàng Vân said last season Việt Nam regrettably finished second. This time around, with such high hopes and with all the efforts the players have made, they want to keep the trophy at home.

Coach Masahiko agreed, adding: “My players have a very good spirit, are united and train seriously. Some of them have good speed, others have good technique. What they need is to improve their fitness to run through 90 minutes of high-intensity competition.

“Every match is important. Myanmar and Thailand are considered to be on par with us, so we need to analyse carefully and prepare thoroughly,” he said.

“The tournament is held in Việt Nam, and our goal is to win the championship so that our Vietnamese supporters are able to celebrate with us.”

Việt Nam Football Federation General Secretary Nguyễn Văn Phú came to encourage the whole team and confirmed VFF's trust in Masahiko and his players.

“The challenges are ahead but we believe Việt Nam's U19 team will achieve the best results in this tournament, creating momentum for further goals this year and towards important international tournaments in the future,” he said. — VNS