The bleak reality
After Cong Phuong left Yokohama FC to return home to play for Binh Phuoc club, Vietnamese football no longer has any players playing abroad.
Overseas Vietnamese players playing for European teams do not have Vietnamese citizenship. Meanwhile, a series of promising and expected faces are no longer interested in going abroad to test their abilities. Nguyen Hoang Duc's decision to stay in Vietnam instead of taking risks in a foreign environment is a typical proof of that.
Another case where it is unclear when he will play in Japan is Pham Tuan Hai. When the 26-year-old striker renewed his contract with Hanoi FC, the capital club revealed that they would create conditions for him to play abroad. But until now, Tuan Hai is still playing in the V.League.
The context of the best players of Vietnamese football being "afraid" to go abroad has led to the situation where the younger generation of players also do not dare to dream of leaving the V.League or the National First Division.
When their abilities are not yet recognized in Vietnam, many young players do not dare to think about joining a team in Thailand, Japan or Korea.
From an objective perspective, the fact that Vietnam U16 and U19 teams were not successful in the regional youth tournament and to some extent the continental qualifiers has significantly limited the opportunities for young players to go abroad.
About 6 years ago, Van Thanh was oriented by a broker to go to Europe. Or during the time Quang Hai was at his peak at the 2018 U23 Asian Cup finals, although he was only 21 years old, many experts and agents also wanted to take him abroad to compete.
However, at this time, no young Vietnamese talent, including Nguyen Cong Phuong, is being noticed by foreign clubs or international brokers.
Find a viable strategy
It must be admitted that it is difficult for Vietnamese players to compete abroad. The lessons from Van Hau, Quang Hai, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, and Cong Phuong are enough to prove that. However, this should not be the reason why Vietnamese players are afraid to go abroad.
The knot that needs to be untied is that they need a feasible strategy that suits their own abilities, rather than "illusions" about high-level teams and leagues.
It could be choosing a third-class team in Japan, second-class team in Korea or third-class team or lower in major football leagues in Europe. Accepting to reduce personal "pride" and choosing low-level tournaments in Europe is considered a suitable direction for Vietnamese players.
Besides, Vietnamese players choosing to train abroad is also a suitable path in the current situation. The case of Vinh Nguyen going to Spain, Le Phat going to Belgium or before that Xuan Truong, Cong Phuong, Dong Trieu, Tuan Anh going to Arsenal (England) for training, apprenticeship... is worth considering for Vietnamese clubs and players.
On the one hand, young players gain valuable experience abroad, feel more professionalism from the top environment in Europe, before making the right decision for their future.
On the other hand, Vietnamese clubs also solve the "inherent" concern of losing young talents to other teams.
In addition, teams that allow Vietnamese players to train also have a certain amount of time to evaluate their potential in many aspects. From here, they can give advice, even make transfer proposals to the home club and the young players.
The growth of Le Phat, Vinh Nguyen today or the Hoang Anh Gia Lai players who later became famous in the U19, U23 and Vietnam national teams shows that short-term training trips abroad are a direction worth considering. In particular, this option is less risky and still opens up valuable experiences for the players.
