Players who grew up from school
In the past, Vietnamese football has witnessed many famous players who came from university. Instead of becoming engineers, doctors, physical education teachers or business, they have turned sideways to pursue a career in football and achieved many successes.
Truong Dinh Luat, a central defender who has played for the Vietnamese national team more than 40 times, initially started as a student at Vinh University of Technical Education - Nghe An. But then, he joined the Military Region 4 team and followed the path of professional football.
With an ideal physique, strong playing style, not afraid of collisions, Truong Dinh Luat has become a favorite center-back at clubs such as Navibank Saigon, Xuan Thanh Saigon, B.Binh Duong (predecessor of the current Becamex TPHCM team) or Ho Chi Minh City team.
Along with these teams, he has reaped many major titles. After saying goodbye to his playing career, Dinh Luat is still attached to football in the position of assistant coach for many teams in the V.League and First Division.
Nguyen Hai Anh, a striker who once wore the Vietnamese national team jersey at the 2014 AFF Cup, also started from school. He was introduced by coach Doan Minh Xuong to play professionally, after graduating from Ho Chi Minh City University of Physical Education and Sports. After playing for Dong Thap quite successfully, Hai Anh joined the Dong Nai team.
In V.League 2014, he scored 12 goals for Dong Nai, becoming one of the 2 domestic players with the most goals in the tournament (excluding naturalized players). Thanks to that, he was called up to the national team by coach Miura. Hai Anh's player career lasted, when he continued to play for Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria - Vung Tau teams.
There are also many other cases of players who grew up from students and competed successfully such as Nguyen Ngoc Thanh (former student of Hutech University), Luu Ngoc Hung (Civil University of Technology), Ho Ngoc Luan (Hue Law University), Ngo Hong Phuoc (An Giang University)...
Speaking of student football, we cannot ignore the case of Van Hien University. The club was established in 2016 to develop the football and sports movement to become professional. With proper investment, the team has gradually affirmed its position in grassroots football leagues and started competing in the Second Division in 2024.
By the 2025 season, Van Hien University has surpassed competitors thanks to head-to-head records to finish at the top of Group B and win the right to direct promotion to the First Division, becoming the first university football team to participate in a professional football tournament in Vietnam, competing in the 2025-2026 season.
To make student football a successor to professionalism
Japan can be seen as a model for the development of school football, with many players who came from university but then became professional and played successfully. At the recent AFC U23 Championship, U23 Japan with a squad of U21, with up to 8 students, defeated U23 China 4-0 to win the championship.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, football expert Doan Minh Xuong - Head of School Football Department of Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation (HFF) emphasized that in recent years, the school football movement, students in Vietnam have developed with many tournaments and festivals being organized.
But according to him, this only meets the initial needs of students, but cannot create a "continuous, synchronous competition system from all levels".
In addition to the lack of a continuous competition system, according to Mr. Xuong, school football in Vietnam also has two other major limitations. First, in terms of facilities, the number of schools with football fields is not large.
According to HFF statistics, in Ho Chi Minh City, only over 10% of primary schools have facilities to serve sports training. Besides, many schools still lack many experts with football expertise, to be able to guide and train students to practice and compete correctly from the beginning.
It is time for the education and sports sector to have strategies and solutions to develop school sports in general and football in particular," Mr. Xuong emphasized. According to the former coach of Dong Thap team, Becamex HCMC, the education sector can include some subjects in the training system at schools such as swimming (survival skills), martial arts (self-defense) and football, including football. According to HFF, in HCMC, 28% of students love and have a need to practice football.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Tran Anh Tu - Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) emphasized that to promote school football, VFF has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education and Training on mobilizing resources for development of this sport in schools.
VFF once proposed to the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) a strategy for developing school football and was highly appreciated. Through the FFAV project, FIFA sponsored VFF with 50,000 balls and a budget to develop the school football program.
After working with the Department of Physical Education - Ministry of Education and Training, 50,000 footballs have been transferred to 1,000 schools and more than 20 member federations and youth football training centers across the country since the end of 2023.
In addition, according to Mr. Tran Anh Tu, VFF is also promoting football coach training courses, with trainees being alumni, teachers, and collaborators. This is an important foundation for training and discovering football talents right from when they are still in school.
Meanwhile, Mr. Daisuke Shindo - who is currently the principal of Urawa Reds Academy Vietnam football school so that student football can be a successor to professional football, he believes that developing "multi-way" is very important, so that players have a second chance. This is what has been and is happening in Japan.
Normally, a player is trained at a club academy. If that person develops well, they will be signed for a professional playing contract. But if they do not play well, or are injured, that person will lose the opportunity.
However, if developing in a multi-role direction, a player can choose a club at a high school, J.League academy or a community football team. Of course, to compete, players must be tested for talent.
In this system, players can have a "safe net" in case they are seriously injured and cannot continue playing, they can become analysts, tactical coaches, or businessmen in different industries," Mr. Shindo shared.
Mr. Shindo cited the case of legend Keisuke Honda, who was trained at the Gamba Osaka football academy, but was later not selected for the U18 team. However, Honda's opportunity to pursue a professional career did not stop, when he studied at Seiryo High School and then opened up a brilliant career for himself.
