Mr. Phan Anh Tu: 'Don't waste the current spirit of Vietnamese women's football'

- Vietnam ended the 2023 World Cup with three defeats, not scoring and conceding 12 times. In your opinion, what have Vietnamese girls gained at the biggest football festival on the planet?

- It must be affirmed immediately that the World Cup is still too big a playground for Vietnam. Through three matches, it was easy to see how superior the opponents were. They are not only more physically fit, but also technically skilled. There are times when Vietnam's skills are not bad, but the loss is too great in bodybuilding and physical strength, creating a limit that we cannot overcome.

However, the female players also made great efforts. Step out onto a large playing field, but they clearly show confidence. This is also shown in friendly matches against European opponents such as Germany, Poland or even New Zealand. Many times Vietnamese players handle techniques confidently, even though their skills need to be improved a lot. They are aware of what they have and do not appear alarmed or overwhelmed by opponents at a higher level. They also have mischievous balls, showing their bravery to play and dare to kick.

Duong Thi Van left the most impression on me. He is a small midfielder but has good possession and coordination. Van also has a very intentional ball installation phase and is ready to roll even though he is much inferior to the opponent in terms of bodybuilding. Vietnam's defenders also played impressively, including the impressions of young defenders like Diem My. What the players performed surprised me quite a bit.

- What is the next step for the Vietnamese women's team to improve their level and return to the World Cup?

- Returning to the World Cup is not a difficult goal for Vietnam. After all, we are the top team in Southeast Asia. The last World Cup increased from 24 to 32 participating teams. Southeast Asia has two teams, so the possibility of Vietnam returning to the World Cup is grounded.

However, to approach the level of the top Asian teams such as Japan, Korea, China, or European teams, is an arduous process, consuming a lot of time and requiring many factors. In particular, I evaluate the two most important factors that need to be improved with Vietnamese women's football at the moment, which are human issues and economic potential.

We have seen how important the physical factor is to women's football, especially in the loss to the Netherlands. This is a generational problem that cannot be solved overnight. Economic potential is even more important. A long-term, methodical and large-scale development plan always requires large funds.

- Used to be the head of the Vietnamese women's soccer team, in your opinion, what impact does the recruitment of Vietnamese women to the World Cup create for the national women's soccer tournament and the audience's interest in this subject?

- I think the journey of the women's team at the World Cup has changed the social perception of this sport quite a lot. This is the biggest gain and to be happy about. Now, the barriers to football-loving girls have been lifted as their desire to be welcomed by society and their families. We keep saying far away that we want Vietnamese football to reach the region or the world. But the truth is that families are hesitant to let their children pursue professional women's football. Many members of the team were prevented from going down this path before it was here. Now, I believe that has changed.

The female players have created inspiration for millions of Vietnamese youth and a great spirit to develop women's football. The children at home are proud to see their sisters competing in the World Cup, so they will be more motivated to pursue this path. Perhaps in the future, Vietnamese women's football will no longer have difficulty in selecting players, and there will be no more scenes of teams having to dissolve due to lack of people. The female players are now the pride of the family.

However, it is important to do what not to waste that momentum. How to mobilize social resources, how responsible localities should be to bring women's football to new heights. This problem is very puzzling. Even men's football, first-class teams, and V-League are still unstable, facing many difficulties to maintain. So women's football is difficult to avoid. We hope that after the World Cup there will be more women's teams and more women's soccer tournaments.

- What do you think about the proposal that clubs participating in the V-League need to establish women's teams like the world's top tournaments?

- This is also a good idea, but whether it is feasible or not needs to be reviewed. Men's clubs and women's teams are also great. But men's football is not stable, can they do it or not? We know the big clubs in the world like Real, Barca, Man City or Lyon all have women's teams. Their players were the biggest stars at the 2023 World Cup. But that's when their men's team was strong, playing in a tournament with billions of dollars in revenue. They just need to apply the model of men's football to women's football. In Vietnam, even the V-League has many problems.

Some countries do not have strong women's clubs and their players have to go abroad to compete in pursuit of professionalism. We just have Huynh Nhu, who took the first step so that in the future Vietnam will have more female players abroad. In my opinion, each country, each football background has its own circumstances, we should not compare. Learning from good international models is a good thing, but not all models are effective with the unique circumstances of Vietnamese football.

- What about the coaching bench, according to you, Vietnam needs a great coach to inherit the legacy of coach Mai Duc Chung or a technical director to promote youth training?

- I think with the current development of Vietnamese women's football, the current coaching staff is still suitable. But it is clear that in order to raise the bar and approach Asia or the world, managers need to have a longer vision to inherit the achievements left by coach Mai Duc Chung and the women's team.

As I said, for Vietnamese women's football to go far is a problem that needs many factors, including a world-class coach or Olympic. But what are the training and selection conditions for players to be able to invite such people. First of all, it is necessary to build women's football with a foundation, an abundant number of players, and a continuous tournament to maintain interest from fans. The issue of compensation for players must be improved. Once you have done that, you can think of bringing in a great coach to raise the bar.