Vietnamese female football striker Huynh Nhu has just arrived in Portugal to sign a two-year contract with Länk FC.
Striker Huynh Nhu
Negotiations between the Portuguese football club and the captain of the Vietnamese national female football team resumed in late July after being disrupted for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Huynh Nhu arrived in Portugal on August 22 and would undergo medical check-ups the following day. If she passes her medical, her contract with the club will take effect and Nhu will become the first Vietnamese female player to play abroad.
Talking with local media before her trip, Huynh Nhu said that she was aware of the challenges facing her in the time to come but she would try her best.
"My target is to introduce Vietnamese women’s football to the world and learn more from professional football clubs," she said. "I hope that Vietnam will have more professional football clubs and more Vietnamese players will have a chance to play abroad in the future."
The upcoming 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup marks the first time that the Vietnamese national women’s football team, including captain Huynh Nhu, have progressed to the finals of the prestigious international tournament. The tournament will take place in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20, 2023.
Huynh Nhu is one of the most prominent players in Vietnamese women's football. She has won the Golden Ball four times. She also made important contributions to the Vietnamese women's team to win gold medals at the SEA Games 2017, 2019 and 2022, along with the AFF Cup 2019 championship.
The 31-year-old is the Vietnamese women's team’s all-time top scorer with 59 goals for the national team.