Players do not want to go abroad, Vietnam team finds it difficult to reach new heights

100% of Vietnam team members play domestically

The 2024 AFF Cup championship has restored fans' faith in the Vietnamese team. However, it should be recognized that this is simply a title to "heal" the pain of the crisis that Quang Hai and his teammates have overcome. To reach Asia, winning the AFF Cup is not enough. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team need a more solid foundation.

One of the factors for Vietnamese football to rise is exporting players to developed football countries. However, this aspect has been forgotten in the past 2 years. Since Quang Hai returned home after an unsuccessful year in France (playing for Pau FC in Ligue 2), the story of Vietnamese players going abroad has not been mentioned anymore.

Going abroad becomes a luxury for Vietnamese players

There have been players who have turned down the opportunity to go abroad. Pham Tuan Hai did not go to Japan to play, but stayed at Hanoi FC with a high signing bonus. Nguyen Hoang Duc was once "offered" by some teams in Korea and Thailand, but he also decided to stay in Vietnam to play. He chose to play in the first division, and then a member of the national team's coaching staff exclaimed: "I feel regretful, because he and many other Vietnamese players are capable of playing abroad to improve their abilities, instead of being satisfied with the choice to stay in the country."

Vietnamese football has seen faces go abroad in many different ways, from the time of Le Huynh Duc, Luong Trung Tuan nearly 2 decades ago, then Le Cong Vinh, Nguyen Viet Thang, then Luong Xuan Truong, Nguyen Cong Phuong, Doan Van Hau, Dang Van Lam, Nguyen Tuan Anh, Nguyen Quang Hai, Nguyen Van Toan... Among them, only Van Lam took the starting position, with 1 season to prove himself at Muangthong United (Thailand). Up to now, Van Lam is still the only Vietnamese player to have a contract with a foreign team. The rest went on loan or for free, then returned home when they had no place.

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According to some experts, the "misstep" of many stars when going abroad has created a mentality of reluctance to play abroad for the current generation of Vietnamese football. At the same time, the huge remuneration (high salary and contract fee) also makes players satisfied with V-League or first division. Having a lot of money and playing regularly (meaning having a place in the national team, maintaining a good image to have advertising contracts) becomes the top choice.

Tuan Hai chose to stay at Hanoi Club instead of going abroad.

Consequences

With 100% of the players playing in the country, the Vietnamese team will still win the AFF Cup 2024. However, advancing to Asia is a different story. To succeed in the Asian Cup or World Cup qualifiers, Vietnamese football must compete with many continental talents, not just Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore or Malaysia like in Southeast Asia.

At that time, will the players' accumulated experience in V-League, first division, or coach Kim Sang-sik's "troop command" talent be enough?

For players to reach a new level, going to a football country with superior levels like Korea and Japan is the only way. Although they are not successful abroad, many players have admitted that they learn a lot in a new environment, with professionalism and preparation from training and match preparation to nutrition, fitness, medical care ... These are all valuable experiences for players to improve themselves, although it comes with the risk of not being able to play regularly and losing form.

An expert told Thanh Nien Newspaper: "Whether to stay or leave is the player's decision. We need to look deeply into the problem: Vietnamese football has not been able to train players with physique, body shape, life experience (foreign language, adaptability) and professional quality that meet international standards. We have not trained players for export purposes. There must be 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, it will be the same no matter which coach we hire to lead them. It will be very difficult for the Vietnamese team to reach new heights."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cau-thu-khong-muon-xuat-ngoai-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-kho-vuon-tam-185250116205324397.htm