Silent Lonesome Man

After the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup, six slots for the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup were decided: defending champions China, former world champions Japan, alongside South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and the joint-host nation, Australia, will take part. Among these participants, the Philippines and Vietnam will debut for the first time. But after the Asian Cup, one thing hangs in question: why does the AFC have no strategic plan to create an independent qualifier to the World Cup? And if it can do it one day, then how will it be? In term of women's football, Asia is among one of the most successful, second only to Europe. This has been the case since the first Women's World Cup held in China in 1991. Since then, two teams from this part, China and Japan, have jointly appeared in the final three times; the latter became the first Asian team to win the World Cup for the women in 2011. By this point, it should have been the inspiration for future success of Asi...

In February 2022, Vietnam entered a round-robin playoff, competed against Thailand and Chinese Taipei, both were World Cup participants. Chinese Taipei previously played the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup in China, which was the first World Cup in the history of women's football, 61 years after the first men's World Cup was held - and that stays as the country's only participation since. Thailand has qualified for two editions, in 2015 and 2019; the former evoked a painful wound for many Vietnamese as it was Vietnam who lost 1-2 to Thailand in the decisive playoff spot right in Ho Chi Minh City. But Vietnam had an edge: its squad was mostly healthy - while Thailand and Chinese Taipei were plagued by coronavirus. A 2-0 win over Thailand initially sealed the hope high, but Chinese Taipei beat the same opponent 3-0, putting Vietnam and Chinese Taipei into a dramatic final confrontation. Chinese Taipei just needed a draw to qualify, but defying all odds, Vietnam won 2-1, thus ...