Huỳnh Như joins the Vietnam women's national team nearly a month late

Huỳnh Như and the players of Ho Chi Minh City I club are scheduled to join the Vietnam women's national team from November 20th.

On October 21st, the Vietnam women's national team officially began their first training session of the third gathering in 2025 to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games, which will take place in Thailand this December. The training camp is held at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center in Hanoi.

Before the training session, head coach Mai Đức Chung stated: “Currently, 26 athletes have gathered. Some coaches and players from the Ho Chi Minh City women's club are still unavailable due to preparations for the Asian Women's Club Championship happening in November. Moving forward, the team will continue training at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center, with plans to play three friendly matches before November 20th.”

It is known that the Ho Chi Minh City women's club has a total of seven members called up, including two coaching staff: head coach Đoàn Thị Kim Chi and goalkeeper coach Nguyễn Thị Kim Hồng. The remaining five players are Nguyễn Thị Huỳnh Như, Cù Thị Huỳnh Như, Quách Thu Em, Chương Thị Kiều, and Trần Thị Thu Thảo.

These seven members from the Ho Chi Minh City women's club will join the Vietnam women's national team on November 20th, just before the team departs for training in Japan. Although they are key players for the national team, due to their commitments with the club in the AFC Women's Champions League, they will join the team almost a month later than the rest.

Regarding the squad, some notable changes have been made. Veteran midfielder Tuyết Dung has officially started coaching at the local level and will not participate this time. Meanwhile, key players such as Huỳnh Như and Phạm Hải Yến remain called up as they meet fitness and skill requirements.

According to the plan, starting November 20th, the women's national team will travel to Japan for training and is expected to play three friendly matches against clubs that match the technical and tactical ideas of the coaching staff, arranged with support from the Japan Football Association. After training, the team will return to Ho Chi Minh City to acclimate to weather conditions similar to Thailand before heading to the 33rd SEA Games.