Question mark for Nguyen Xuan Son
On November 19, the list of Vietnam national team with 30 players will be announced. The whole team will gather on November 21-22 before going to Korea for a 2-week training session.
In the land of kimchi, through 2 friendly matches with the "blue troops" and a high-level training process, Mr. Kim will select 23 players and 3 goalkeepers to participate in the ASEAN Cup 2024 (formerly the AFF Cup).
In recent days, some names in the preliminary list (50 players) have been shared on the media and social networks. Nguyen Xuan Son (Rafaelson) has received the attention of fans. The striker of Nam Dinh club has completed the naturalization procedure and is eligible to play for the Vietnam national team.
The obstacle is that Xuan Son has not lived and worked in the S-shaped country for 5 years. This is a mandatory criterion of FIFA if a team wants to use naturalized foreign players in official matches.
This raises the question: So why did coach Kim Sang-sik choose Nguyen Xuan Son for the preliminary list and is it possible that he will be in the 30-player squad going to Korea for training?
In fact, Nguyen Xuan Son is eligible to join the Vietnam national team. He just cannot guarantee the time required by FIFA to play officially.
Based on the two evidences, it is completely legal for Mr. Kim Sang-sik to include Nguyen Xuan Son in the list of Vietnamese players to train in Korea, but not use him when competing in the AFF Cup. The important thing is what the 47-year-old coach will plan with the Brazilian striker.
Win-win
Nguyen Xuan Son is gradually regaining his rhythm at Nam Dinh club. Up to now, he has 5 goals in AFC Champions League Two, V.League and is the best scorer of the team from Thanh Nam.
Besides Tien Linh, Xuan Son is currently the only Vietnamese striker with such a good scoring efficiency. Tuan Hai, Van Toan, Vi Hao, Dinh Bac… have not yet achieved the expected performance.
This is the basis for coach Kim Sang-sik to choose Xuan Son in the preliminary list of the Vietnam team, as a message showing that he has planned to include the player born in 1997 in the strategy to enhance the strength of the national team.
On the contrary, this further motivated Nguyen Xuan Son to compete, as his desire to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey was responded to by the head coach.
At this time, Mr. Kim Sang-sik has not announced the list of 30 players going to Korea for training. But if Xuan Son appears, it is not a surprise. From now until March 2025 - the start of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, the Vietnam team will not have another training session lasting 2 consecutive weeks like this.
Therefore, this is the ideal time for promising rookies like Xuan Son to integrate and adapt to the new environment. The two friendly matches with Korean representatives are also a reason for Xuan Son to adapt and prove his ability.
The 2024 AFF Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers taking place early next year will have a big impact on Vietnamese football. Therefore, preparing the squad right now is suitable for coach Kim Sang-sik's short-term and long-term calculations.
