Abu Dhabi Country Club (ADCC) coach Sara Hassanien said she was proud of her team's achievements despite a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat away to Ho Chi Minh City in the quarter-finals of the AFC Women's Champions League on Saturday.
Serial UAE champions ADCC led 3-0 and 4-2 before eventually being edged out by a 90th-minute own goal in a nine-goal thriller in Vietnam. Hassanien felt the loss of key forward Toorfah Al Ghafri to injury on 63 minutes affected her side and proved the pivotal moment in the tie.
“Unfortunately we had a critical injury that turned the tide of the game. However, we are proud of our performance to be representing the UAE and the way that we played and fought until the very last minute, despite the result,” said Hassanien.
ADCC had already made their mark on what is the first staging of a premier AFC women's continental tournament.
They earned their place in the group stage by winning all three games they contested in the preliminary round last August in Riyadh, defeating Laos’ Young Elephants, Myanmar’s Myawady, and Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr.
In doing so, ADCC became the first Arab club to reach the maiden edition of the continental showpiece, which featured 12 of the top women’s football teams in Asia, split across three groups.
They followed that up by going unbeaten in the group stage proper with one win and two draws, beating China's Wuhan Jiangda and drawing with South Korea's Incheon Red Angels and Malaysia's Sabah.
“We walk off the field with our heads held high. This is just the beginning. We will be participating again, hopefully, in future editions of this tournament,” added Hassanien.
“We are hungry to make it further and further in the future in terms of performance, in terms of results, and in terms of representation of women and girls in sports and football in West Asia and worldwide.”
Ho Chi Minh City were immediately under pressure from ADCC, with Rashida Ibrahim shooting just wide in the early exchanges before the home defence was breached for the first time.
The goal came after some brilliant work by Princella Adubea, who collected Ibrahim’s pass before unleashing a fierce drive from distance into the bottom left corner as Abu Dhabi got off to a dream start.
ADCC doubled their advantage in the 15th minute after Salha Al Zaabi’s long-range effort hit the bar and the rebound fell kindly for Al Ghafri to slot home from close range.
Ho Chi Minh City tried to claw their way back but efforts from Huynh Nhu, Ashley Tonthat and Sabrina Cabrera all failed to trouble the ADCC keeper.
The Vietnamese side fell further behind in the second minute of added time at the end of the first half with Eugenia Tetteh nodding home Adubea’s cross from the right.
A determined Ho Chi Minh City upped the tempo after the break and came close to reducing the deficit in the 60th minute when Aubrey Goodwill struck the bar from inside the box.
An injury to Al Ghafri then gave Ho Chi Minh City added impetus with Thua K' scoring from close range.
Ho Chi Minh City grabbed their second four minutes later courtesy of Chuong Thi Kieu’s glancing header, but ADCC came back fighting with Tetteh netting after Naeema Ibrahim dispossessed Nguyen Thi Kim Yen before supplying a cross for the Ghanaian midfielder.
But their joy was cut short two minutes later when Tran Nguyen Bao Chau struck from long range to beat Jeane at full stretch before Ngo Thi Hong Nhung drew Ho Chi Minh level in the 83rd minute with a brilliant half-volley from just outside the box.
A resurgent Ho Chi Minh applied further pressure and forced Abu Dhabi into conceding an own goal in the 90th minute when Ghanima Al Zaabi inadvertently headed Ngo Thị Hong Nhung’s cross into her own net.
Home coach Hong Pham Nguyen praised his players' mental fortitude. “The emotions are indescribable, but I’m very happy. We have gone past the quarter-final stage,” said Hong. “Looking back at the match, in the first 10 minutes, some of our players showed signs of psychological tension, especially after conceding in the third goal. It affected our style of play.
“However, adjustments during half-time provided strong mental encouragement. There was still an entire half to play, and in football, anything can happen. As long as you push through all difficulties, both mentally and physically, and give your best performance – along with some tactical adjustments – we were able to make a remarkable comeback.”
