Nguyen Xuan Son is not the first player without Vietnamese blood to be naturalized and called up to the Vietnam National Team, but he is the first to make his mark with the success of the 2024 ASEAN Championship. That success opens up the future for the next factors - but not as massive as the VFF representative affirmed.
Experts are talking about Jason Quang Vinh Pendant or Hendrio as possible next players and of course, they will also help the team become stronger. But the problem is, after Xuan Son has shown his superiority compared to the general level of not only domestic players in Vietnam but also in the Southeast Asian region, will continuing to play in the V.League help them develop themselves further?
Playing in the V.League with such superiority, it is difficult for Xuan Son to have real motivation to improve his level. Obviously, to become more mature, the 27-year-old player needs to go to a more competitive environment, with better quality players such as Korea's K-League, Japan's J.League - where he had a bad experience in 2018 because he did not play any matches due to injury, or even Saudi Arabia's Pro League - a tournament that has been attracting many quality stars.
Goalkeeper Filip Nguyen is also rumored to want to move to a better league after his experience in the V.League, but at the age of 32, like Hendrio - 30 years old, it may be more difficult to find a club and a high-level league. Meanwhile, Jason Quang Vinh, also 27 years old like Xuan Son, after being naturalized, he can completely return to Europe as before coming to the Hanoi Police club.
Of course, there will be some problems. It will be difficult for coaches to monitor performance directly, but with the power of the media today, this is not too much of an obstacle. Or at some point, clubs will not be forced to release players if the team is playing outside the FIFA calendar, but that is rare.
Therefore, we need to think about the individual development of players to contribute to the team at a higher level, especially when aiming to reach the top of Asia and win a ticket to the World Cup...
