"I really admire Quang Hai for his courage in deciding to play abroad after achieving achievements that many people dream of. I also really respect the perseverance that Cong Phuong is showing, and hope Phuong will be more successful in Japan," Luong Xuan Truong shared in the latest episode of the podcast on his personal YouTube channel.
Former Hoang Anh Gia Lai player talks about his time playing abroad. He trained at Arsenal, played for Gangwon and Incheon United in Korea and Buriram United in Thailand. Xuan Truong was unsuccessful and soon chose to return to Vietnam to play for HAGL before moving to Hai Phong Club.
The midfielder born in 1995 believes that Vietnamese players going abroad and achieving great success is "very far away". However, according to Xuan Truong, Vietnamese football still needs more players to play abroad and his colleagues should consider going abroad as a goal.
Xuan Truong has joined foreign clubs three times but was unsuccessful.
"The difference in skill level and many disadvantages make us still very self-conscious, but if we do not dare to face this reality, we will not have many other options to reach the level of Vietnamese football. I always hope that players will seize the opportunity to go abroad if given because that is the best way for you to be the ones to help Vietnamese football develop in the future," Xuan Truong expressed his opinion.
The latest case of a Vietnamese player going abroad to gain experience is Hoang Vinh Nguyen. The midfielder of Ho Chi Minh City Club had the opportunity to train at Cadiz Club - currently playing in La Liga (Spain). After 2 weeks in Cadiz's youth team, Hoang Vinh Nguyen returned to Vietnam.
Xuan Truong gave words of encouragement to his junior, saying that Vinh Nguyen was better than him and his teammates when he went to Arsenal for training. At the age of U23, going abroad is beneficial for Vinh Nguyen.
Not being able to play abroad is not a problem, because even in the domestic environment, this player has not been able to compete for a regular playing position in the club as well as the national team. Experiencing a higher quality training environment helps Vinh Nguyen gain more experience to be more competitive when returning to Vietnam at the age of 25-26.
Hoang Vinh Nguyen trains at Cadiz Club.
"Vinh Nguyen went alone. Yet you were still brave enough to connect, exchange, and chat with the local players of the team. Nguyen was proactive in everything. Of course, when you went there, you also had the same difficulties as us. Those were physical difficulties, not being used to the intensity of playing football, and not being able to adapt to Western food either. But, Nguyen still tried. You were even determined to return to Spain to practice and compete for a long time.
So we can see that Nguyen's image in particular, or the image of the players of the next generation, is much bolder than our previous generation. At that time, the number of players going abroad to practice and play football was still quite small. Until now, this is not necessarily much. When a player goes abroad, the press will pay much attention to it, because that is still quite strange.
It can be said that when a player goes abroad, it is not only for themselves, but also brings with them a dream of reaching the level of Vietnamese football. None of the people who went before have really succeeded, but Vinh Nguyen still bravely continues, which is really commendable for this young player," said Xuan Truong.
According to the former HAGL midfielder, the story of pioneering players who went abroad but were not successful still has great significance in drawing lessons for the next generations. He pointed out that even Korean football before Park Ji-sung and Son Heung-min had great success in Europe, they also needed other less prominent players to pioneer and inspire.
"In Vietnam, it's a bit different. There hasn't been a single player who has truly succeeded when playing abroad, but that's okay. Failure is the mother of success. From the stories of those who came before, hopefully Vinh Nguyen, or in the future many other players, can learn lessons to aim for success when playing abroad. Who knows, maybe one day, Vietnamese football will also produce a super Son Heung-min ," Xuan Truong concluded.
Han Phong
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