Vietnam team forced to naturalize foreign players?
A few years ago, the idea of naturalizing a foreign player would have been quickly dismissed. The Vietnamese team has Cong Phuong, Quang Hai, Hoang Duc, Van Toan… who are at the peak of their careers. What is the point of naturalizing a team like that? But football is a matter of timing. Now, the situation is completely different for the Vietnamese team.
Basically, apart from Nguyen Filip and Dang Van Lam, the Vietnamese team does not have any overseas Vietnamese players of sufficient quality to add. Jason Pendant Quang Vinh has just returned to the country and is still considered a foreign player. He needs a long time to truly integrate into his homeland environment and contribute more.
Meanwhile, coach Troussier’s failure points to many problems with the team’s strength. The golden generation has declined significantly in terms of fitness, form and even desire for football. The French coach may have made a mistake in his policy of using young players. But through this adjustment, fans understand that young players are not qualified enough and in reality, it is difficult for them to reach the level of their seniors.
When the next player does not meet the requirements, the main player declines without additional resources, the Vietnam team will take a long time to return to the top. Naturalizing players is almost a mandatory option.
In recent days, everyone has been excited about the news that Rafaelson Fernandes is about to have Vietnamese citizenship. Perhaps VFF and coach Kim Sang-sik are waiting, ready to bring the Brazilian star to the national team. Rafaelson is certainly a good addition, but that does not mean that Vietnamese football can freely naturalize.
Naturalization is not a guarantee
Answering Lao Dong's question, Thanh Hoa Club's Technical Director - Mr. Hoang Thanh Tung commented: "In my opinion, naturalization is not a simple story, especially for the national team. The story of team unity and individual dedication will be placed on par with expertise. This is different from the club level. It is not true that naturalized foreign players will help the national team become better."
Mr. Tung’s assessment is not without basis. Malaysia has naturalized a few foreign players, but their quality is not better than that of local players. Several times, the off-field problems of this group of players have even taken generations of Malaysian coaches time to resolve.
Singapore is a country that has been quite successful in naturalizing players, but the period of sublimation was very short-lived. In recent years, they have been naturalized but have not found the same glory as before. The leading force of this team is still the Fandi brothers. The rare person who has shown his role is Jacpp Mahler, but he is of Singaporean origin.
Looking back at Vietnamese football at the present time, after Rafaelson, there is no more source of naturalization. Gustavo, Rimario, Mpande, Pinto, Pedro Paulo used to play well, with a level superior to their Vietnamese counterparts. But they have declined a lot, and their motivation to compete is also a big question mark.
Naturalizing many players also causes unpredictable consequences. V.League teams will start a new race. Many years ago, there was a time when youth training centers received little investment because the owners spent a lot of money on foreign players and naturalized players.
Therefore, combining domestic resources and naturalized players is a good solution, but it is very difficult to implement most effectively.
