Goalkeeper Dang Thi Kieu Trinh is highlighted in AFC home page. (Photo: the-afc.com)Hanoi (VNA) - The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has chosen tofeature Vietnamese goalkeeper Dang Thi Kieu Trinh on their website, ahead ofthe Asian Women’s Cup early next month.
In their feature, AFC called Trinh an ever-present figure at the Asian Cup.
The 32-year-old made her debut at the National Championship in 2006 and now hascompeted in all five editions of the competition.
Vietnam nearly achieved their dream of taking part in the 2015 World Cup inCanada. However, the team fell short by losing 1-2 to Thailand in HCM City,during a play-off match for the fifth position in 2014.
Trinh said that this memory was unhappy, as the team did not play as well asexpected. But they considered the loss a motivation to try harder in Jordannext month, and the Vietnamese Golden Ball winner is motivated to go onebetter.
Under head coach Mai Duc Chung, Trinh and her teammates played well in theAsian Cup qualifiers last April and secured their berth in the finals inJordan. They later won a gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games in Malaysiaand remained undefeated for the entire year in August.
Trinh and two other teammates, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung and Huynh Nhu, are keymembers while coach Chung is an effective leader who knows how to unite theplayers and motivate the squad, to win their World Cup place despite thechallenges.
“Before every match, we all promise to play at our highest possible level, tobring victory to our country. That was our motivation to play well in theSoutheast Asian Games,” she said to the-afc.com.
“Head coach Chung is an enthusiastic coach and he understands every player verywell, which is a key factor that led to his success as a coach,” she added.
Vietnam, the Southeast Asian champions, must progress to the Cup’s semi-finalsto achieve their ambitions. However, they must overcome major challenges in thegroup phase, where they will face Japan, Australia and the Republic of Korea inGroup B.
“They are all strong opponents in world football, and we will face ourchallenges in this draw,” Trinh stressed.
“To me, the competition has obviously improved as more and more teams haveparticipated, and the level of each team is getting better and better as well,”she added.
Trinh and her teammates are currently trained in Germany to prepare for the Cupin Jordan. - VNA
