Overseas Vietnamese players find it difficult to find a place
Before Thomas Mai Veeren (Vietnamese name Mai Cong Thanh) was called up by coach Cristiano Roland to the U.17 Vietnam team to prepare for the 2025 U.17 Asian Cup finals, there was another overseas Vietnamese player who tried his hand at the U.17 team in September 2024. That was Maxwell James Peereboom, born in 2008, of Vietnamese and Australian descent, who played for the Gold Coast Knights, one of the top clubs in the National Premier Leagues Queensland (Australia). Despite his impressive profile, Maxwell failed to convince the U.17 Vietnam coaching staff when he was absent from this training session.
Will Thomas Mai Veeren have a starting position in U.17 Vietnam?
PHOTO: VFF
Maxwell’s story raises two issues. First, the U.17 Vietnam coaching staff is actively looking for overseas Vietnamese talent, which is not often the case in Vietnam’s youth teams. At the same time, these players, despite having good physiques and technical and tactical thinking, are not necessarily able to prove themselves.
When coach Philippe Troussier took charge of U.23 Vietnam, he once called Andrej Nguyen An Khanh to try his hand. Andrej grew up in a developed football background in Europe (Czech Republic), and was once called up to U.19 Czech Republic. However, like coach Roland, Mr. Troussier did not choose this Vietnamese-American player.
Similarly, although the U.22 team of Vietnamese football has overseas Vietnamese players such as Viktor Le (Ha Tinh) or Zan Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh City), there is no guarantee that coach Kim Sang-sik will call these players up to the national team. Because looking at both the national team and the youth teams, the number of overseas Vietnamese players who have proven their abilities is actually not much. Goalkeeper Dang Van Lam (of Vietnamese and Russian descent) is one of the few faces that have a place, when he has guarded the national team's goal since 2017, helping the Vietnamese team win the AFF Cup 2018, reach the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup 2019 and the third qualifying round of the World Cup 2022. The rest, from Michal Nguyen, Adriano Schmidt in the past to Nguyen Filip now, are all struggling. Although he played football for 8 years in Europe for Slovan Liberec and Slovacko (Czech Republic championship), Filip is still competing to gain a place in the Vietnamese team.
At the U.22, U.20 or U.19 levels, the mark of overseas Vietnamese is even more obscure.
Looking for answers
Vietnamese football is facing an ironic reality when high-class overseas Vietnamese players such as Jason Quang Vinh (Hanoi Police Club), Adou Minh (Ha Tinh) or Patrik Le Giang (HCMC) do not have Vietnamese citizenship. Meanwhile, overseas Vietnamese players who have citizenship are struggling to compete for a place.
When asked why overseas Vietnamese players have not yet left their mark, expert Doan Minh Xuong (Head of School Football Department of Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation) said that to be successful in football, having expertise alone is not enough. "Players need to adapt well to culture, lifestyle, and language to integrate into the team," Mr. Xuong affirmed.
Among them, the language barrier is making it difficult for many players to integrate. Those who have adapted well from the past until now such as Hong Quan and Van Lam all speak Vietnamese fluently, while Filip does not communicate well in Vietnamese despite having studied for more than a year, leading to not being selected as the main goalkeeper because he cannot ensure communication with the defenders. Overseas Vietnamese players in the V-League and youth teams currently mainly speak English or French, making it difficult to connect with teammates both on and off the field.
Coach Roland emphasized that midfielder Thomas Mai Veeren must strive to gain a place in the U.17 Vietnam team. There is no preferential treatment, even though this young player has good physique and thinking thanks to his time in the Netherlands. Football is a team sport, so overseas Vietnamese players need to "follow local customs" and find a strong connection with their teammates.
Mr. Xuong further analyzed: "Whether we use overseas Vietnamese or naturalized players in any position, we need to have a long-term strategy, closely linked with the head coach's tactics."
Therefore, overseas Vietnamese players will need more time to leave their mark on the success of Vietnamese football.
Thanhnien.vn
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/de-bong-da-viet-nam-la-dat-lanh-voi-cau-thu-viet-kieu-185250305222120034.htm
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