Expensive but ineffective!

V-League foreign players: Expensive, but... worth it?

On the evening of February 9, Hanoi FC defeated SLNA 3-0 to return to the V-League championship race. However, the most discussed topic after the match was not Van Quyet's double or the capital's recovery, but the three missed opportunities of Daniel Passira, a new player who joined Hanoi FC.

The foreign player wearing the number 99 shirt is valued at 500,000 USD (about 13 billion VND), won the top scorer title of the Bolivian national championship in the 2023 - 2024 season with 22 goals. Despite his outstanding record, what Passira left in the match at Hang Day Stadium last night was disappointment.

Daniel Passira (number 99) missed a chance in the match against SLNA

The Brazilian player clumsily missed a chance after a through ball from Van Quyet in the middle of the first half. Although the goal was wide open, Passira dribbled awkwardly and then shot wide. In the 40th minute, Joao Pedro passed the ball as if it was set up for Passira to face goalkeeper Van Viet. But once again, he finished with a sloppy instep technique, sending the ball wide of the goal. In the second half, Passira again fumbled and missed a shot, despite his teammates creating opportunities.

One match is not enough to evaluate a foreign player. However, if Passira turns out to be a dud, Hanoi FC fans probably won't be surprised. Since 2021, the former V-League champion has registered 29 foreign players, but no player has scored more than 10 goals/season. The best foreign players have only lasted no more than 2 seasons. Carrying the capital team for many years have been domestic players such as Van Quyet, Hung Dung, Tuan Hai and Thanh Chung.

This is a paradoxical reality for a team that once had many talented foreign players such as Samson Kayode (later renamed Hoang Vu Samson), Gonzalo, Cristiano, Oseni or Pape Omar... The recruitment of foreign players by Hanoi FC has recently been questioned, as the team that won the championship 6 times has bought a lot, but the results have not been very good.

For example, in the 2023-2024 season, Hanoi FC registered 6 foreign players to play in the AFC Champions League, including foreign player Damien Le Tallec who used to play in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund. However, after half a season, only 2 players remained. One of them was Joel Tagueu, a player who had to sit on the bench and then missed a penalty in the National Cup final, causing Hanoi FC to miss out on the title.

Hanoi FC is not the only team that has repeatedly "mistakes" with foreign players. Binh Duong FC also got a "flop" when recruiting Wellington Nem at the beginning of this season. Wellington used to play with Neymar in the U.17 Brazil, and had a bright profile. However, he played for nearly half a season but still... did not meet the physical requirements, and had to leave early.

Wellington Nem is a failed contract of Binh Duong Club

Also a friend of Neymar is Patrick Cruz, a foreign player for Saigon FC in 2017. He was released after one season, although he scored 7 goals in 22 matches but was still considered not outstanding in terms of expertise.

Or in the 2020 season, Ho Chi Minh City FC brought in the duo Ariel Rodriguez and Jose Ortiz, valued at up to 1 million USD (25.3 billion VND). However, Ortiz left after only half a season, while Ariel fared better, staying on for... a few more months. When the Costa Rican duo, along with a series of low-quality foreign players, said goodbye to Thong Nhat Stadium, experts still wondered: why were they brought back?

Burn money

Although each team has different financial resources, most V-League teams do not hesitate to spend money on foreign players. Because the coaches understand how the quality of foreign players affects the season's performance. Saigon FC finished third in V-League 2020 with the duo Pedro Paulo and Geovane Magno as proof.

However, it seems that there is a problem with recruiting foreign players. Thanh Nien Newspaper's source revealed that there are teams that spend up to hundreds of thousands of USD (including salary and contract fee) on foreign players, just for a few video sessions or trial training sessions.

Many foreign players are advertised as teammates of superstars, but clearly that detail has no professional value. Because no matter how classy, ​​to be successful in V-League requires many factors, it cannot be based solely on a flashy CV.

Very few players reach the level of Xuan Son.

Clubs may not be patient enough with foreign players. Because it is very rare for players to show their brilliance after only a few months. For example, Nguyen Xuan Son spent the first 3 seasons in the V-League without scoring more than 6 goals in any season. It was his own perseverance and the trust of his home club that helped Xuan Son mature. However, not many clubs are willing to let foreign players show themselves in the second season.

If clubs lack patience, the foreign player market will always be a matter of "throwing money out the window". A former player agent asserted that it is ironic that teams spend a lot of money on foreign players (even though they may not be worth the price), but ignore the upgrading of facilities, stadiums and youth training.

It is the waste that threatens to hold back Vietnamese football.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chuyen-ngoai-binh-ov-league-dat-tien-nhung-kem-hieu-qua-185250210085722899.htm