After much anticipation and anticipation for the day Rafaelson officially became a Vietnamese citizen with the name Nguyen Xuan Son, it finally came. The Brazilian striker also had his first match for the Nam Dinh Steel Club in the 2024-2025 V.League on the evening of September 23.
Now, the next concern is when the 27-year-old striker can be called up to the Vietnam National Team? Technically, if they want, VFF and coach Kim Sang-sik can call up Nguyen Xuan Son to the national team right at the FIFA Days in October. Whether he is eligible to play or not is another matter. This is related to FIFA's strict rules and regulations.
After most of the conditions have been met, only the final criterion remains, which is “living in Vietnam for at least 5 years”, with the specific regulation of “must be present at least 183 days in 12 months” of each year. And according to calculations, it will take until the end of 2024 or early 2025 for Nguyen Xuan Son to fully meet all the conditions.
However, there are also suggestions that the Vietnam National Team can still use the striker born in 1997 in the ASEAN Championship (starting from December 2024) because this tournament is not part of the FIFA system. That is a way to circumvent the law, but have we grasped all the issues, aspects, and angles when raising this issue?
It is known that with Nguyen Xuan Son, the attacking power of the Vietnamese team will be enhanced, with the opportunity to achieve high results in the tournament, but sometimes, "cunning" choices, ignoring long-term, sustainable factors for immediate benefits will lead to very high prices to pay.
The AFF Cup/ASEAN Championship is not yet in the FIFA system but is initially included in the tournaments that calculate FIFA ranking points. In the future, there is a chance that it will be recorded in the system if FIFA considers changes. However, if Vietnamese football “circumvents the law” because of Nguyen Xuan Son, the story may turn in a different direction…
As for next October, if Nguyen Xuan Son is called up to the national team to participate in training and get acquainted, it will not affect anything.
What will be will be, don't try to get around the law!
