Recognized talent
When announcing the typical squad of V.League 2024-2025, the organizing committee accepted the mixed opinions. In particular, partly focusing on the goalkeeper position, partly thinking that champion Nam Dinh should have had an overwhelming number of players in the best squad. Even striker Leo Artur - one of the two "explosive" players of Hanoi Police was surprised that he was not chosen.
Despite the controversy, all recognized the talents of the two overseas Vietnamese players in the typical squad of V.League 2024 - 2025, center back Adou Minh (Hong Linh Ha Tinh) and defender Cao Pendant Quang Vinh (Hanoi Police).
Hong Linh Ha Tinh will not be able to create a 13-match unbeaten streak at the beginning of the season and end with the highest ranking in history (5th) without the joint efforts of Adou Minh. Having passed the early stages of the season, facing competition from other foreign players such as Joseph Onoja, Lucas Alexis Larade date, Michael Okoro Ibe... Adou Minh has been trusted by coach Nguyen Thanh Cong. Throughout the tournament, Adou Minh continuously scored points with stable performance, fiery competitive spirit and good expertise. Thanks to the player's aggressiveness, Hong Linh Ha Tinh has become one of the most strong defences in V.League.
Similarly, Cao Pendant Quang Vinh has solved the problem that Hanoi Police is concerned about in the 2023-2024 season. That is the fill of the left-back position left by Doan Van Hau - a long-term injury player. Cao Pendant Quang Vinh's strong, competitive physical foundation and quick-witted defensive thinking help the Police team become stronger.
Not only that, Quang Vinh is ready to participate in the attack when needed, based on his speed and position sensitivity, having previously trained in France and the US. Apart from Van Vi (Nam Dinh), no left winger has been as stable and made an active professional mark as Quang Vinh throughout the 2024 - 2025 V.League.
V.League's right path
Rarely in the history of the V.League, there have been two overseas Vietnamese players. This is an affirmation of the ability to adapt to the environment as well as the quality that some overseas Vietnamese players have soon shown in the club's jersey.
Expanding beyond the scope of the typical squad, V.League 2024 - 2025 has 2 other cases that have created professional impressions. They are midfielders Viktor Le (Hong Linh Ha Tinh) and Kevin Pham Ba (Nam Dinh).
This season, Viktor Le is still playing as an overseas Vietnamese player (before obtaining Vietnamese nationality). He showed remarkable progress with 3 goals and 2 assists after 24 appearances for Hong Linh Ha Tinh. Notably, in 4 consecutive rounds at the end of the season, the midfielder born in 2003 was rated quite well by Sofascored (over 7 points). Remember, this is the first time in his career that Viktor Le has been rated above 7 points in such a long series of matches. That is also an affirmation of the stability of the player currently playing for U23 Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Kevin Pham Ba is an unexpectedly successful contract of Nam Dinh club. He came from France to Vietnam to compete in the second phase of V.League 2024-2025 and contributed a lot to the journey to defend the title of the team from Thanh Nam. In addition to his good defensive ability, this defender also participates effectively in attack. The proof is that in 10 appearances, Kevin Pham Ba has scored 2 goals.
The strategy of recruiting overseas Vietnamese players to compete in the V.League - creating a stepping stone towards the national team of the Vietnam Football Federation and VPF Company starting to reap sweet fruits. Clubs are willing to invest financially to search for and recruit Vietnamese talents from many places around the world to improve the quality and depth of their squads.
Of course, the Vietnam national teams also benefit from this. The appearance of Cao Pendant Quang Vinh in the Vietnam national team or Viktor Le in the U23 Vietnam national team is such a proof.
