It is difficult to have a second Nguyen Xuan Son.
Recently, Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) - Mr. Tran Anh Tu revealed that the number of naturalized players will not be limited, but this work will be done selectively. Mr. Tu's statement is based on the actual situation, when the number of foreign players who are eligible to possess Vietnamese nationality and can contribute to the national team can be counted "on the fingers".
In the near future, the dream of fans in finding the second Nguyen Xuan Son is not feasible. Xuan Son only played 5 matches but managed to score 7 goals, had 3 passes for teammates to score at ASEAN Cup 2024. He also gave 2 penalties to Tien Linh. Xuan Son brings great inspiration to teammates and fans.
The big difference of the striker born in 1997 forced the public to rethink about naturalized players. Nguyen Xuan Son affirmed that his expertise and dedication to the Vietnamese team is not inferior to native players.
Why is the search for the second Nguyen Xuan Son so intense? Because the process of naturalizing players needs to be initiated by the club and the locality. To convince Nam Dinh, Xuan Son himself must show his own value. He is only 27 years old but has been in Vietnam for 5 years. Last season, Xuan Son scored 31 goals in the V.League.
It is rare for a player at the peak of his career to be enthusiastic about naturalization. From a legal perspective, currently, only Gustavo Santos (Thanh Hoa), Paulo Pinto (Ha Tinh), Hendrio Araujo (Nam Dinh), Gordon Rimario (Thanh Hoa) and Janclesio (Binh Duong) are ready to be naturalized immediately. However, Pinto and Janclesio have declined significantly; Rimario has just been injured and will have to rest until the end of this season; Hendrio is the brightest but will hardly be as excellent as a few years ago when he turns 30.
Even Tran Trung Hieu (Kizito) and Hoang Vu Samson still have Vietnamese nationality. Of these, Trung Hieu has played for the Ugandan team many times, Hoang Vu Samson is 36 years old and his opportunity to contribute to the Vietnamese team is considered closed. In the next 2-3 years, the Vietnamese team does not have a good enough naturalization plan.
Why?
Basically, V.League is still the top quality tournament in Southeast Asia. According to coach Velizar Popov, winning or drawing in Vietnam is much more difficult than what he experienced in Thailand and Malaysia.
Vietnamese football teams are not rich but not too poor. However, everyone realizes that the quality of foreign players in V.League in recent years has not been very good. The situation of teams constantly having to replace players every season happens continuously. Foreign players coming to Vietnam mostly cannot keep their jobs. Hanoi Club, which emphasizes stability, has used 6-7 foreign players in one season.
Thanh Hoa Club has been successful in the past 3 years with foreign players, but they are older players. Paulo Conrado and Antonio Luiz were both born in 1991, and Bruno Cunha was born in 1993. It was not until V.League 2024-2025 that they used a younger striker, Lucas Ribamar, who played impressively but is also 27 years old.
To reach the peak of performance and contribute to the Vietnam National Team, the naturalization age of players should only be 27-29. That means they must come to Vietnam from the age of 22-23. But from the team's perspective, the common goal of VFF in the naturalization issue does not bring any benefits to them. The team needs to survive, they choose the most suitable target in terms of expertise and price. High-class, cheap foreign players are often old, others with great value are also past the age threshold for naturalization.
It is difficult to “force” a club to sign a contract with a young foreign player. Nguyen Xuan Son himself came to Vietnam when he was seriously injured in Japan and failed in the Danish Second Division. Young, excellent players find it difficult to accept playing in the V.League because they need a very high salary.
Because of the above factors, naturalizing players is not easy and finding someone like Xuan Son is even more difficult.
