Are Vietnamese players still interested in... going abroad?

FEAR OF FAILURE?

Vietnamese football has witnessed many cases of players going abroad to play. In the early stages of the process, there were only a few names such as Le Huynh Duc (Chongqing Lifan, China), Luong Trung Tuan (Thailand Port), Nguyen Viet Thang (FC Porto B, Portugal) or Le Cong Vinh (Leixoes - Portugal and Consadole Sapporo - Japan). Most of the cases of going abroad during this period were for the purpose of apprenticeship and gaining experience rather than actually playing.

In the period 2016 - 2022, many Vietnamese players began to leave the country to seek more opportunities. Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, Van Lam, Van Hau, Quang Hai took turns trying their hand in developed football countries such as Japan, Korea, or European countries such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium. The peak was in 2019, when the Vietnamese team had 3 or 4 players going abroad at the same time. However, all of these trips ended very quickly.

Is Hoang Duc (right) strong enough to compete abroad?

The common denominator of Vietnamese players going abroad is that they all go on loan or free transfer. The rare time a foreign team spent money to recruit a Vietnamese player was the case of Dang Van Lam, when he joined Muangthong United (Thailand) from Hai Phong Club for 500,000 USD (about 12 billion VND) in 2019. And the saying "expensive but worth it" is not wrong. Van Lam is also the only Vietnamese player to play a key role at a foreign club. Meanwhile, the remaining Vietnamese players are lucky to start a few matches, otherwise, by the time they return home, they can only count the minutes they have played on the field on their fingers. Currently, only Cong Phuong is playing abroad in Vietnamese men's football. The entire force participating in the 2023 Asian Cup of the Vietnamese team is playing in the domestic league.

"The reluctance of Vietnamese players to go abroad comes from many reasons, including psychological barriers when there are many cases of having to sit on the bench leading to a decline in performance. However, we need to look at the root: the quality of training in Vietnam is not good, lacking systematic and unified standards. Each place trains differently, does not ensure nutrition, sports science... leading to low quality players, not meeting the high standards in Asia. Clubs need to ask themselves why they cannot export players abroad. If Vietnamese football wants to develop, it must have a strategy to train and develop people according to the standards of leading football countries, only then will there be players qualified to play abroad. If we just train players and let them play domestically with each other, then no matter if coach Troussier or whoever leads the Vietnamese team, it will be difficult to dream far," expert Doan Minh Xuong assessed.

C HO HOANG DUC AND TUAN HAI

The common point of the two players who just won the Vietnam Golden Ball (Hoang Duc) and the Vietnam Silver Ball (Tuan Hai) is that they both desire to play abroad. At the age of 26, Hoang Duc has played for the Vietnam national team for 5 years and has been a pillar of the The Cong Viettel Club for many years. Meanwhile, Tuan Hai has also proven his ability in the V-League and has been a regular in the Vietnam national team since January 2022. Despite the failures of their seniors in the past, this duo still wants to go far to see the horizon.

Having spent many years coaching, expert Doan Minh Xuong commented: "The fact that Hoang Duc and Tuan Hai want to go abroad is commendable, but let's learn from the experience of those who have gone before, that is, we must find a suitable destination for our level, a club with a football philosophy suitable for our ability, from there we can develop. All Vietnamese players, not just Tuan Hai or Hoang Duc, must play abroad. Playing football at high intensity, being exposed to modern facilities, eating and training conditions... will open the door for Vietnamese players to improve their level.

Japanese football has conducted detailed research on how Japanese players improve when playing in the world's top leagues, compared to only playing in domestic leagues. Vietnamese football needs to conduct similar research. Most importantly, if we want more players to play abroad, the training system of clubs across the country must be good. Otherwise, it would be like counting the chickens before the chickens hatch, it would be difficult to wait for a generation of good players to shine abroad."

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/cau-thu-viet-nam-co-con-hung-thu-voi-chuyen-xuat-ngoai-185240220204602496.htm