The U20 Women's Asian Cup kicks off today, with China's minimum target being the top four.

Reported by Wang Wei At 17:00 Beijing time on April 1, the first round of the U20 Women's Asian Cup group stage begins. The match between China's U20 women's football team (hereinafter referred to as the women's youth team) and Vietnam will be held at the Nongbuari Province Stadium in Thailand. For this Asian Cup, the women's youth team aims to qualify for the U20 Women's World Cup, which means they must at least reach the semifinals.

In the U20 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers, the women's youth team defeated Syria 6-0, Cambodia 7-0, and Lebanon 8-0, achieving three wins with 21 goals scored and 0 conceded to advance to the main tournament.

The roster includes many promising young talents. In the goalkeeper position, Liu Chen, who recently joined Beijing from Shandong women's football, is the main goalkeeper for the U17 women's team in this year's World Cup. The defense is led by Huang Jiaxin and Li Ke. The midfield features Wang Aifang and Xie Zongmei, who just represented the Chinese women's team in the Asian Cup, with Wang Aifang being a key starter. Additionally, the midfield includes Zhou Xinyi, who performed excellently at the Morocco U17 Women's World Cup last year and was selected ahead of her age group. Xiao Yafei is highly impactful on the wings.

The forward line is led by Lu Jiayu and Zheng Lu. Lu Jiayu is physically strong with excellent footwork, strong heading ability, and a clear role as a pivot. Zheng Lu is fast, has sharp goal-scoring instincts, excellent dribbling skills, and outstanding breakthrough ability.

Colin Bell stated that during the previous training camp, the players demonstrated the training attitude he desired. Through the qualifiers, it can be seen that the team has formed, "trust among each other has been established."

At the pre-match press conference, head coach Colin Bell said that the group the women's youth team is in is interesting, with opponents being completely different types of teams. "We have undergone a long training camp and look forward to playing an exciting match against Vietnam." He revealed that the players have improved significantly, especially in adapting to tactics, and can execute the coach's arrangements well. "If we can perform at the level shown in training, we are confident of achieving good results."

However, Colin Bell also stated that the team will first focus on Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Thailand, i.e., the group stage opponents. "We cannot run before we learn to walk." He hopes that China's various men's and women's national teams can reach the semifinals and finals in Asian-level competitions, qualify for the World Cup, and that such situations should become the norm for all national teams. "For such a powerful and strong country like China, these should be natural expectations."

Vietnam has participated in the U20 Women's Asian Cup four consecutive times. Japanese coach Masahiko Okiyama began coaching the team in 2024. Last year, they won all four matches in the Southeast Asia U19 Women's Championship to reach the final but lost 1-3 to Thailand in Ho Chi Minh City, finishing as runners-up. In the U20 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers last August, they advanced with three consecutive wins, with a goal difference of 14-0.

After qualifying, Masahiko Okiyama conducted multiple training camps. After the Spring Festival in February this year, they assembled in Hanoi and then trained in Kunming, playing a friendly match against the Chinese women's football team also training there, narrowly losing 0-1 to Beijing. Before departing for Thailand in late March, Vietnam played two friendlies against Uzbekistan in Ho Chi Minh City, winning the first match 4-0 and drawing the second 1-1 with a rotated squad.

This Vietnam team has several notable players. Forward Liu Huangyun scored a hat-trick in last year's U19 Southeast Asia Women's Championship, totaling 5 goals in 5 matches, and also scored 2 goals in the Asian qualifiers. Forward Le Thi Trang scored twice against Uzbekistan. Midfielder Do Thi Thuy Nga scored against Thailand in the final of last year's U19 Southeast Asia Women's Championship and also scored in last week's friendly against Uzbekistan.

Masahiko Okiyama is confident about the Vietnam team. At the pre-match press conference, he stated that although the opponents in the same group are all strong, especially the first opponent China, this match is a tough battle. "Vietnam has made thorough preparations tactically and psychologically and will face the match with maximum determination." He believes that participating in continental competitions is crucial for nurturing new talents in Vietnamese women's football and helps Vietnamese women's football achieve true professionalism sooner.

"Our goal is to win. Of course, competing against strong Asian teams can help players accumulate experience. We hope to learn more from the Chinese team. Vietnam women's football's goal remains to dominate Asia someday," Masahiko Okiyama said.