Vietnam women's team arrives in New Zealand, starting historic World Cup

At noon on July 6 (local time), coach Mai Duc Chung and his team arrived in Napier city - where the friendly match between the Vietnam Women's Team and the New Zealand Women's Team will take place, kicking off the final preparation phase towards the 2023 Women's World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.

The Vietnamese women's team took 3 flights: Hanoi - Changi - Auckland - Napier with a total travel time of nearly 24 hours. Upon arrival at Auckland airport, the Vietnamese women's team received a warm welcome from FIFA and the local organizing committee. Thanks to that, the immigration procedures went smoothly, creating conditions for coach Mai Duc Chung and his team to easily move to a domestic flight to Napier.

After settling down and resting at the base, the Vietnam Women's Team immediately had their first training session at McLean Park, where the friendly match with host New Zealand will take place, to get used to the weather and field conditions here.

The temperature below 10 degrees Celsius in the evening in Napier also affected the players somewhat, however, the whole team was still very active and tried to do the exercises according to the instructions of the coaches to quickly adapt to the change of time zone and weather. With the physical foundation trained in the recent training sessions in Germany, Poland and the training time at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center before leaving, in general, the whole team is getting into the rhythm well and completing the exercises.

Sharing about the recent journey, Head of the delegation Truong Hai Tung said: “The Vietnam women's team had a route according to the set plan. Although the Vietnam women's team arrived earlier than the scheduled time of the 2023 Women's World Cup, FIFA and the local organizing committee sent many staff to enthusiastically welcome the team, arrange and organize for the team to continue the flight to Napier, prepare for the friendly match on July 10 between the Vietnam women's team and the New Zealand women's team. The players were all proactive in moving, eating and preparing warm equipment so as not to be surprised by the cold weather here."

This afternoon's training session took place quickly within 1 hour with ball feel exercises. Tomorrow, the whole team will have 2 morning and afternoon training sessions to increase physical strength and regain the best condition for the upcoming journey.

In New Zealand, the Vietnamese women's team has 2 more weeks to prepare, with 2 rehearsal matches against New Zealand (July 10) and Spain (July 14). Compared to Vietnam, the weather in New Zealand is quite cold. The players are all prepared with warm clothes to keep their body temperature during training and competition. Before coach Mai Duc Chung and his team arrived in New Zealand, the Vietnam Football Federation sent an advance team to check and survey the hotel, training ground, and transportation./.