AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup™ Uzbekistan 2024 took place from 3 March to 16 March 2024 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The tournament ended with DPR Korea winning the title, while Japan, who were aiming for their fourth consecutive title, finished runners-up. After winning the first and second rounds of the qualifiers, which began in March last year, Vietnam was the only Southeast Asian country to qualify. During the tournament, there were days when the temperature dropped below zero and it even snowed on some days. The Vietnamese players had never seen snow before, and although they were happy to take pictures at first, they had a hard time getting used to the cold weather.

We have been drawn into a group with Japan (the defending champions), DPR Korea (runners-up at the last tournament) and China PR (winner of the 2006 edition). With tough competition ahead of us, we set the following goals for the tournament:

・Create goal-scoring opportunities
・Score goals
・Win 1 point (*awarded for a draw)
・Demonstrate the best teamwork among the participating teams

Although we lost all three matches by a landslide, the players showed great improvement as the matches progressed. For example, in the first match against Japan, the players were afraid of being beaten by their opponents and were far too passive defensively, but in the final match against China PR, they made aggressive challenges that could have resulted in fouls. For Vietnam, there are not many opportunities to play against powerhouse countries. It is said that “matches are the best form of training,” and through these matches I was convinced that playing against top teams definitely helps players develop. And as for the four goals, although we didn't earn any points, we certainly created goal-scoring opportunities, scored a goal and showed that we had the best teamwork among the participating teams.

Before our first match against Japan, I had the opportunity to hear the Japanese national anthem for the first time as a Head Coach of the opponent team, and it was both very emotional and surreal. The tournament may have been a shock for Vietnam, as it showed that a huge gap exists between Vietnam and the rest of Asia. It is easy to say that this was a good experience, or that we will make the most of this defeat next time. All coaches involved in Vietnamese football need to reflect on this tournament, analyse what worked and what did not, and work on creating a concrete plan for the future, and that is a process I would like to be part of in order to contribute to the development of Vietnamese football.