Notable faces
V.League 2025-2026 has a notable highlight as a series of foreign players with good expertise who have or have played for nearly 5 years in the Vietnam professional football tournament.
Players Hendrio Araujo, Gordon Rimario, Gustavo Santos, Janclesio, Geovane Magno and Michael Olaha hope to be naturalized and compete as foreign-born Vietnamese players, starting in the 2025-2026 season.
On the other hand, after cases such as Hoang Vu Samson, Kizito, Do Merlo or Nguyen Van Bakel... Vietnamese professional football also welcomed a new generation of naturalized stars capable of contributing to the V.League or national team in the next 3-4 years.
Among the 6 names mentioned above, Hendrio (Hanoi FC) is the face that received attention. The Brazilian player came to Vietnamese football in December 2020 when he joined Binh Dinh. He did not take much time to affirm his qualifications and class in the V.League environment.
Hendrio's peak was in the 2023-2024 season with 12 goals and 13 assists for Nam Dinh. The brilliant performance of the midfielder born in 1994 is one of the factors that helped the representative become the V.League champion.
In addition to his ability, Hendrio also scored points for being diligent in learning and communicating in Vietnamese. At this time, the 31-year-old player can listen and talk basically with fans, Vietnamese players... He also supports foreign players in translating from English, Portuguese to Vietnamese.
In addition, Hendrio also learned about the traditional days of the Vietnamese people, trying traditional dishes in many localities across the country. That effort helped him receive support and admiration from a large number of Vietnamese fans during his naturalization application.
More options for Vietnamese clubs and teams
While Hendrio needs 2-3 months to complete the 5-year milestone of playing football in Vietnam, Gordon Rimario (Thanh Hoa), Janclesio (Ninh Binh), Geovane (Ninh Binh) have ensured the time factor.
Striker Rimario came to Vietnam to play football in 2018 for Hoang Anh Gia Lai. After that, the Jamaica striker will head the team to Thanh Hoa, Hanoi, Binh Dinh, Hai Phong or Binh Duong.
For more than 6 consecutive years in the V.League, Rimario has scored over 60 goals and 30 assists. He also won the title of " shooter" and "Best Foreign Player" of V.League 2022 once.
It is known that a few months ago, the Thanh team promoted procedures to apply for Vietnamese citizenship for the 31-year-old striker. If successful, Rimario will play for Thanh Hoa as a naturalized player. This means that they will take advantage of an additional foreign player position in the V.League.
Ninh Binh Club is also waiting for Janclesio or Geovane to soon be naturalized.
Of which, Janclesio has competed in Vietnam since 2019. For the past 5 years, this player has played for The Cong Viettel, Hong Linh Ha Tinh, Da Nang, Binh Duong and currently Ninh Binh. Similarly, striker Geovane has also played for Saigon FC, The Cong Viettel, Hanoi Police, Hong Linh Ha Tinh, Ninh Binh for 6 consecutive years.
With the above time limit, it is too late for Geovane or Janclesio to be naturalized. At that time, the ancient capital team will optimize foreign players in professional tournaments.
The other two faces are Michael Olaha and Gustavo Santos, who have a lot of experience fighting in the V.League. However, both of them were interrupted during their time playing football in Vietnam.
Accordingly, Michael Olaha had a period of moving to Israel to play before returning to V.League, while Gustavo Santos also returned to Brazil for a short time to join Gremio Esportivo Anapolis. Currently, both are still waiting for their home clubs such as Song Lam Nghe An and Da Nang to carry out procedures to support naturalization.
The story of foreign players becoming Vietnamese citizens brings many advantages. The players themselves will have more opportunities and time to play football in the V.League. The Vietnam club and team also have a choice of highly qualified personnel to aim for goals and ambitions in participating tournaments.
