The 1-0 Victory over Jiangsu Women's FC: A Two-Shaded Portrait of Vietnam Women's National Team Ahead of ASIAD

I write slower than a heartbeat so I don't miss the moment the boot touches the grass. At around 2:30 PM, on a secondary training pitch in a Chinese sports complex, I stood in my familiar spot — one and a half meters from the touchline. The sunlight was not harsh, but the humid heat of the monsoon was enough to soak the back of my shirt. Then, in the 14th minute of the friendly match, a moment that was not spectacular visually but carried immense emotional value: Hai Yen put the ball into the net of Jiangsu Women's FC. I witnessed the explosion of the girls in red shirts. They ran toward Hai Yen, but I paid more attention to each hug, each pat on the back from teammates on the bench. After the final whistle, the 1-0 scoreline stood firm. But if we only look at that minimal number to evaluate this match, we will miss most of the important signals about the ASIAD 2026 preparation journey — a story far bigger than a friendly victory. For those who have followed Vietnamese women's football long enough, it is not difficult to recognize that head coach Hoang Van Phuc and his coaching staff placed two objectives on the scale: testing and refining the squad. This is not a high-stakes competition match, nor a life-or-death battle, but a "mobile laboratory" set in the middle of a host country. In reality, Jiangsu is not an ordinary opponent. As a club positioned among the leading group in China's extremely competitive women's football system, they possess abundant financial resources and considerable squad depth. Moreover, players from the host nation have hardly lacked nutrition or facilities to develop over the past 20 years. This minimal victory, therefore, was not a lucky gift but the product of a consistent tactical framework. Unlike most other Southeast Asian teams still struggling to define their philosophy, the Vietnamese women's national team under Hoang Van Phuc is following a pragmatic approach designed for teams with solid technical fundamentals but physical limitations: positional discipline, zonal defense, and rapid transition. Jiangsu's head coach Miguel Santos acknowledged this in his short post-match press conference when he did not hesitate to point out that our team "defends in an organized way, transitions effectively from defense to attack, and counterattacks efficiently." It was a rare confirmation from a foreign strategist, known to be very demanding, about the qualities our team is building. But the interesting part — and one of the data points I carefully noted in my notebook always tucked into the stands — was how Miguel Santos spoke about Vietnamese football as an uncomfortable collective rather than a flashy one. In today's rapidly evolving football world, the concept of an "uncomfortable opponent" is becoming increasingly valuable. A team that knows who it is and identifies its "identity" through defensive-counterattacking football will always have a fair chance to compete against teams with higher individual class. This friendly also revealed an unwritten task that I have always noticed when observing the Vietnamese women's national team over many years: squad stability through testing before major tournaments. Hoang Van Phuc kept the lineup stable for the first 60 minutes, allowing the core group and trusted supporting players time to build combinations. The tactical intention was rhythm and structure, not chasing the scoreline. Most Western coaches, whether at club or national team level, understand that the 60th minute is the golden window to evaluate a player in a high-pressure environment without destroying the team's overall structure in the long run. Then came ten rapid substitutions between the 61st and 87th minutes. To an outsider, such massive rotation might seem risky. But from a distance of 1.5 meters, I saw the essence of tactical flexibility. The young girls brought on — Ngoc Minh Chuyen, Hoang Loan, and several other faces given opportunities — showed no signs of confusion. I followed one passing sequence from the substitutes; they maintained reasonable formation distance and neutralized the opponent's attacks. Winning after ten substitutions is proof that the coaching staff is following the right process. There are evenings I choose to stay at the stadium instead of going home, and in return I get a story no one has told. For a beat reporter, the most valuable thing is not the goal, but how the coach uses every minute of a friendly to deliver a message to his own players. Notice: most of the young players only played in the second half, where the pace slowed, where there was less score pressure, but also where they practiced keeping the ball in high-pressure zones. But the victory over Jiangsu — though positive — also exposed a blind spot that Miguel Santos himself tactfully pointed out: "The Vietnamese women's national team needs to continue improving their attacking organization, especially ball control, ball circulation, and creating space." This is an observation that we — those who work in the profession — record as an honest expert diagnosis, not diplomatic praise. In contemporary football, defending well helps a team avoid losing, but scoring from open play is what wins championships. And indeed, the Vietnamese women's team is still timid in controlling the ball in the opponent's half during moments when there is no lead. Looking ahead, the friendly against the Chinese women's national team on September 9 will be a completely different real test. Jiangsu is a club, not a national team. When wearing the Chinese national jersey, players typically perform with a different spirit — an intensity and ferocity not entirely present in club-level league matches. A Chinese coach would certainly not express satisfaction to the press if his team lost to a regional-level team like Vietnam in a match closely watched by the home public. This will be an environment that tests the team's mental maturity and tactical discipline. Even though the match against Jiangsu provided a mental boost, we should not rush to celebrate. As someone who faithfully records what I see and hear, not a passionate fan seeking to soothe past pain, I want to add something. Vietnamese women's football may have moved past the stage of regional bewilderment, but the journey to becoming a winning team is not simply achieved through flags and slogans. I don't take sides; I just record how beer falls and the curses of a generation. So I ask permission to challenge a common notion on social media: this friendly victory is not necessarily a "long leap" for Vietnamese women's football, but rather a small step in an accumulative process. Every summer friendly result must be placed in the context of a longer journey, where teams often hide their cards. Imagine, in some respects, the current Vietnamese team possesses a weapon they did not have ten years ago. At a time when social media pressure, fan expectations, and demands for results are increasingly fierce, Hoang Van Phuc's players are showing the ability to control matches without needing to dominate possession — a virtue once seen in their senior male counterparts: knowing how to win even on days when the performance is not optimal. That is enormously valuable. However, for ASIAD 2026, where the intensity and organizational level will be much higher, the requirement for organized attacking becomes crucial. The Chinese coach pointed that out. If these attacking limitations can be resolved, the Vietnamese women's team could spring surprises. Conversely, if they rely only on defensive solidity, advancing deep at an Asian Games will be an extremely difficult equation... I will stay in China for a few more days to cover the match against the Chinese women's national team on September 9. The short break between the two matches is a rare window for the girls to recover physically, and also a quiet period for the coaching staff to analyze all the data from the friendly. I will still stand behind the touchline, listening to the sound of boots on grass before anyone can shout a victory slogan. Every article is a heartbeat, and I am the beat keeper for a river of singing people. To me, the 1-0 victory over Jiangsu is an answer to those who still ask whether the Vietnamese girls have enough courage to pursue the ASIAD dream. But the road ahead is still long, and only the color of the grass and time can confirm what is truly taking shape in the heart of our nation's women's football. One victory. Hai Yen's 14th minute. Ten substitutions. But the story remains open. Fans have the right to hope, but those of us in the profession have a duty to see the gaps behind the excitement. Because losing the ball is normal; losing faith is the real tragedy — and a team trying to build faith from a friendly victory, on foreign soil, is doing exactly its job.