Huynh Nhu and HCMC Women's Club: A Tough Group, But the Drumbeat Remains

Kuala Lumpur, September 2026. I sat in the back row of the press conference room, where no flash could reach, and watched the third ball being drawn. Group B. Hwacheon KSPO WFC. 4.25 SC. East Bengal. And HCMC Women's Club. In a room full of polite applause, I remembered a morning in Busan, standing behind the training ground fence and watching a young player change the captain's armband without anyone noticing. The quietest drumbeat is the one that leads the entire match. For Vietnamese women's football, that drumbeat is coming from a club called HCMC. The AFC Women's Champions League 2026-2027 group stage draw placed the Vietnamese champions into a group that the media calls "a big challenge." But I have followed Asian women's football for over five decades, and I know that groups called "difficult" often have clearer tiers than they appear. Hwacheon KSPO, the South Korean champions, are a team with formidable physical foundation and tactical organization. 4.25 SC come from North Korea, a women's football culture known for discipline and pressing intensity. East Bengal of India, though the weakest on paper, scored 18 goals and conceded none in the preliminary round. Three opponents, three styles, three different layers of pressure. But I am not here to redraw the group diagram. I am here to tell the story of a team that has twice advanced from the continental group stage, and twice stopped in the knockout round without scoring a single goal. First year, semi-final, lost 0-2. Second year, quarter-final, lost 0-3. Those numbers lie quietly in the statistics table, but I have seen faces leaving the pitch in silence more than on television. An empty dressing room is not out of people, but out of teammates' breath. The question for this third campaign is not whether HCMC can advance from the group — history says they can. The real question is: can they score against elite East Asian teams? Look at the preliminary round data. 4.25 SC scored 29 goals in 3 matches, conceding only 1. East Bengal scored 18 goals, conceding none. These numbers, read superficially, would worry anyone. But I have learned that preliminary round data is often inflated by weak opposition. The only match 4.25 SC conceded was a 4-1 win over College of Asian Scholars — a team not among the region's strongest. East Bengal, despite their impressive preliminary record, were eliminated in last year's group stage with only 3 points. The gap between the preliminary round and the group stage is a chasm that only teams with squad depth and experience can bridge. HCMC has that experience. This is their third consecutive participation, and they have advanced from the group stage both previous times. Head coach Doan Thi Kim Chi, who has led the team through all three campaigns, has proven her ability to navigate the group stage. But I also recognize a worrying pattern: this team seems to have a "ceiling" in the knockout rounds. They can navigate the group stage against mid-tier opposition, but become helpless against top-tier East Asian teams. This suggests that HCMC's tactical identity may lean toward organized defense and counter-attacking — effective against weaker opponents, but easily suffocated by teams with superior ball control. The pivotal match, in my analysis, is the encounter with East Bengal. This is the only match where HCMC can realistically expect to take all three points. But do not be mistaken: East Bengal are not a weak team. They have proven their quality in the preliminary round, and their group-stage elimination last year with 3 points shows they can compete but lack the endurance. If HCMC beat East Bengal, they will have 3 points and a positive goal-difference foundation. If they draw or lose, they will have to rely on results against the two East Asian teams — something history suggests is very difficult. I have followed Asian women's football since the early days of the AFC Women's Club Championship, and I recognize that North Korean teams are always an unknown quantity. Naegohyang, another North Korean team, won the title last year. 4.25 SC come from the same footballing ecosystem — discipline, fitness, tight tactical organization. But their lack of international experience is also a double-edged sword. They are unpredictable for opponents, but may also be underprepared for the specific conditions of playing in India — climate, pitch, travel. What troubles me most is not the group itself, but how we read it. The media tends to look at team names and conclude immediately. But I have learned that football does not operate by names. It operates by rhythm — the rhythm of training sessions, of dressing-room conversations, of how a team responds when they concede. I have seen Huynh Nhu, at 35, still the spiritual leader of the team. Her name sits on the headline, but what she keeps — how she talks to young players, how she stays calm when the team is under pressure — is the real story. There is one detail I want to emphasize: this year's competition format allows the two best third-placed teams to advance. This means that even if HCMC finish third in the group, they still have a chance to advance if their goal difference is good enough. This detail softens the "big challenge" narrative somewhat. But it also creates a new pressure: goal difference could become the deciding factor. The match against East Bengal is not only important for points, but for goal difference. A convincing win could create a significant advantage. I remember the 2026 season, when Busan Asiad Stadium was empty due to the pandemic, and I witnessed a captain secretly considering retirement in the bathroom. I kept that secret, and I learned that sometimes the most important thing is not what you write, but what you choose not to write. For HCMC, I believe the most important thing in this campaign is not tactics or data, but how they maintain their rhythm amid external pressure. The rhythm-keeper does not run the fastest, but knows exactly when the drum must sound. This group is difficult, there is no denying it. But I have seen too many underrated teams overcome harder groups than this. I have seen overrated teams fail because they lost their rhythm. HCMC have a history of advancing from the group stage, an experienced head coach, a spiritual leader like Huynh Nhu, and a format that allows them to advance even if they finish third. These factors do not guarantee success, but they create a solid foundation. November will come quickly. Ahead lies the flight to India, the training sessions to adapt to playing conditions, the tactical meetings that stretch late into the night. I will watch from behind the fence, where no flash can reach, and I will record what I see. Not to expose, but to understand. Because ultimately, the story of Vietnamese women's football is not in wins or losses, but in how they maintain their drumbeat amid an increasingly fierce Asia. And I believe that drumbeat is still sounding, no matter how difficult the group.