28 Goals, 0 Conceded: When Joy Obscures the Truth About Vietnam U17 Women

I have watched many matches of Vietnamese women's football. From the days the girls had to train on dirt pitches, to when they stepped out at the 2026 World Cup. But there is one thing I learned after 49 years of writing: The most perfect numbers often hide the most inconvenient truths.

Vietnam U17 Women just finished the 2027 AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers with a perfect record of three wins, 28 goals scored, and zero conceded. They topped Group D and secured a direct ticket to the finals in China. A feat that thrilled fans and led the media to call it an "emotional performance."

But I am not among them.

When the whole press room goes silent, I know I have just touched a sore spot. And this time, the sore spot is not that Vietnam U17 Women played poorly. The sore spot is how we are reading the 28-0 record as a measure of true strength, when the truth is we know nothing about this team at all.

28 goals: Joy or a veil?

Let's start with what we actually know. Vietnam U17 Women were drawn in Group D with Palestine U17 Women and Northern Mariana Islands U17 Women. These are two of the weakest opponents in Asian women's football. The Northern Mariana Islands do not even have a proper women's football system. Palestine is in a development phase and lacks international match experience.

What does that mean? It means those 28 goals were scored against opponents that even an amateur team could beat. I am not saying this to belittle the girls. I am saying this because I have witnessed too many times how Vietnamese football lulled itself to sleep with victories over small opponents, only to collapse when facing real opponents.

The stadium is empty, but I hear the hearts of thousands of fans beating as one. Their hearts rejoice at 28 goals. But my heart beats differently. My heart beats with worry.

A noteworthy style but unverified

What is truly remarkable about this Vietnam U17 Women team is not the number of goals, but how they scored them. Two matches, two goals came from the same formula: Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang assists, Do Thi Ha Vi finishes. Trang is the creator, Ha Vi is the finisher. This is a deliberate attacking axis, not random individual moments.

Coach Okiyama Masahiko, a Japanese, has built this team around a clear philosophy: ball control, group combination play, and proactive attacking. In the final match, Vietnam only needed one point to top the group. But Okiyama still instructed his players to attack. He did not choose safety. He chose identity.

That is a valuable tactical signal. A team that dares to attack when a draw is enough is a team with belief. But it is also a signal that remains unverified. Because attacking against Palestine and the Northern Mariana Islands is one thing. Attacking against Japan, DPR Korea, or China is something entirely different.

I bet Germany would be eliminated, the whole world laughed at me – a week later they shut up. I am not betting that Vietnam U17 Women will fail. I am only saying we do not have enough data to say they will succeed.

The problem lies in defence, where no one looks

Zero goals conceded in three matches. Sounds great. But remember, you cannot concede against an opponent that never hits the target. The Vietnam U17 Women defence has never been truly tested.

In football, there is a basic principle many forget: Defensive capability is not measured by goals conceded, but by chances created by the opponent. And we have no data on that. No expected goals (xG). No opponent shot count. No clearances. Nothing.

I have followed Asian women's football for decades. I have seen Vietnamese teams defend resiliently against big opponents. I have also seen teams collapse completely under real pressure. The difference between those two types of teams is not in the goals conceded against small opponents. It is in the ability to withstand when big opponents press.

And that ability, for Vietnam U17 Women, is completely unknown.

What will happen in China 2027?

The 2027 AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup finals will be held in China. There, Vietnam will face teams of a completely different calibre: Japan, DPR Korea, South Korea, China, Australia. These are teams with proper youth development systems, superior physicality, and extensive international match experience.

How big is the gap between Vietnam U17 Women and these teams? We do not know. But we can estimate. Vietnamese women's football has made great strides at the senior national team level, with the 2026 World Cup appearance. But at the youth level, the gap remains huge. Teams like Japan or DPR Korea have 16-year-olds already playing in professional national leagues. Vietnamese players of the same age are still training in youth development systems.

That is not the girls' fault. That is the reality of the system.

Transfers are not science, they are a drama of greed and ego. But youth development is science. And science takes time. Vietnam U17 Women securing a ticket to the Asian finals is a genuine step forward. But it is a step in a long journey, not the destination.

A contrarian view: Why I still believe

I could be wrong. I am often wrong. But when I am wrong, I am wrong because I overestimated the opponent, not because I underestimated the Vietnamese girls.

What makes me optimistic about this Vietnam U17 Women team is not the 28 goals. It is that Coach Okiyama Masahiko dared to attack when a draw was enough. It is that the players executed his tactical plan correctly. It is that the Huyen Trang - Ha Vi attacking axis worked effectively and is repeatable.

Those are signs of a properly coached team, not a team relying on luck.

And more importantly, those are signs of a system being invested in the right direction. The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) hiring a Japanese coach for the U17 women's team is a signal that they value youth women's football. That is not a small investment. And it shows VFF is learning from Japan's youth development model, a country with one of the best women's football systems in the world.

At 65, I still stay up until 3 AM to watch a match no one cares about. And I still believe Vietnamese women's football has a bright future. But I do not believe in perfect numbers. I believe in process.

What to watch

When the 2027 AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup finals take place, here is what I will be watching:

First, will Huyen Trang and Ha Vi continue to be the main source of goals? If so, that is a good sign of stability. But if no one else scores, that is a bad sign of dependency.

Second, will the defence hold up against strong opponents? This is the most important question. And it will be answered ruthlessly.

Third, will Coach Okiyama remain loyal to his attacking philosophy when facing stronger opponents? This is a question of identity.

And finally, will the success of Vietnam U17 Women lead to real changes in Vietnam's women's youth development system? Or is it just a single shining moment?

People hate me because I speak first, then they remember me because I was right. I do not know what Vietnam U17 Women will achieve in China 2027. But I know one thing: If we continue to celebrate victories over small opponents as if they were great feats, we will never progress.

Vietnamese women's football has come a long way. But the road ahead is even longer. And to go the full distance, we need to look at the truth, not at beautiful numbers.

28 goals, 0 conceded. A proud achievement. But not a measure of true strength.

And if you think I am wrong, remember my words. The 2027 finals will be the final judgment.