Tuyet Dung opened a restaurant in her hometown to help her parents reduce their hard work in the fields. She occasionally comes home to help with the tables when she has time off from training. Photo: FB Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung

Women's footballVietnam has achieved many successes in the regional arena in recent years. Most recently, coach Mai Duc Chung's team has just won a ticket to the final round.World Cup 2022after victories over Thailand (2-0) and Taiwan (2-1) in the Asian play-off round. However, compared to their male counterparts, the lives of female players are still difficult. Some have to take on extra jobs to earn extra income for themselves and their families.

In 2018, midfielderNguyen Thi Tuyet Dungstarted working part-time by selling cosmetics online. The Ha Nam player was invited by his colleague Do Thi Yen (playing for Hanoi FC) to sell goods because there was a source of cosmetics from Japan. At first, Tuyet Dung mainly sold to friends and colleagues. Later, when Do Thi Yen stopped playing football, Dung also stopped selling cosmetics.

In September 2019, Tuyet Dung continued to try her hand at labor export consulting. Volleyball player Tran Thi Tuoi - one of Dung's friends who was in Japan at that time, working part-time in labor export, so she invited her to join. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused this job of the female player who twice won the Vietnam Golden Ball (2014, 2019) to stagnate for the past two years.

Currently, Tuyet Dung has graduated from the University of Physical Education and Sports, is an official of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Nam province, both playing football and studying to be a coach. In her free time, the midfielder born in 1993 returns home to "run tables without pay" for her parents. More than two years ago, having saved some bonus money from the Vietnamese women's team, she opened a small restaurant so that her parents would not have to work hard in the fields. The restaurant named "Tuyet Dung 7" specializes in serving duck dishes such as blood pudding, vermicelli, glass noodles, porridge... In addition, Tuyet Dung also opened a community football center named after her for students from 6 to 12 years old in her hometown.

Like Tuyet Dung, captain of Vietnam women's teamHuynh Nhualso has her own shop with the brand "Nang 9 dua sap Tra Vinh". This is a job that Huynh Nhu is very passionate about. Although she is busy practicing and competing, she still regularly posts advertisements for the shop and sells products on her personal page. "The shop is in its early stages of operation so there are not many customers yet, I also compete a lot so I have little time for it", Huynh Nhu told the media before leaving for India to compete in the final round of the 2022 Asian Cup.

With the achievement of winning a ticket to the final roundWorld Cup 2023, the Vietnamese women's team is currently awarded more than 14 billion VND. This number is expected to continue to increase in the coming days. In addition, the team of coach Mai Duc Chung was also awarded the Labor Medal by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and met and commended by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. On February 11, the VFF held a ceremony to honor the team at its headquarters in Hanoi.