Southeast Asia's women outpace men in soccer's global arena

Vietnam and the Philippines are heading to the Women's World Cup

20230712 Philippines v Vietnam - ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Women's Championship

The Philippines takes on Vietnam in the semifinal of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Womens Championship in Manila on July 15. © Getty Images

JOHN DUERDEN, Contributing writer

SEOUL -- Southeast Asia's men have only played one game in the World Cup. Indonesia, competing as the Dutch East Indies, fell to a 6-0 loss against a talented Hungarian team in 1938.

Dutch magazine Sportkroniek came down hard on them: "The actions you make when not in possession are equally as important as those when you are in possession. [These] fellows are still unaware of this fact, for when they don't have possession of the ball, they tend to do ... nothing!"

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