Overseas Vietnamese players need to be 'paved the way'

LESSONS FROM THE STORY OF V AN L AM

Many fans who have been following Vietnamese football for a long time have not forgotten the story of Dang Van Lam's heartfelt letter to coach Toshiya Miura in 2015. At that time, the goalkeeper of Ninh Binh Club shared: "My biggest wish now is to return to Vietnam to try out for the U.23 Vietnam team. Just one more time, if not, I will return to Russia and not bother you anymore. Because this year is the last year I am old enough to participate in the SEA Games. Does Miura know Lam? If not now, then never." No one responded to Van Lam and he was still confused. There were times when the goalkeeper born in 1993 had to face two forks in the road: give up his football career or move on. But with his desire and effort, he still decided to return to Vietnam, accepted to play in Laos and then got the position he has today.

Van Lam's success gives overseas Vietnamese players more motivation to return to their homeland.

PHOTO: MINH TU

There are two things to be learned from Van Lam's story. First, he (and Mac Hong Quan) became an inspiration for many overseas Vietnamese players to decide to return to their homeland. Viktor Le, a Russian Vietnamese like Van Lam, also admitted this. Some other players like Tony Le said they were impressed by the love of football of the Vietnamese people, impressed by the image of the streets filled with red flags with yellow stars after the miracle of Thuong Chau 2018, so they decided to "return home".

Second, most overseas Vietnamese players actively seek to return to Vietnam. Of course, they love their country, but part of the reason is that they are not strong enough to compete in developed football environments. Therefore, it is understandable that most overseas Vietnamese players struggle to compete in the V-League environment. Over the past years, only Van Lam and Nguyen Filip have been able to play as pillars of the Vietnamese national team. Other players such as Mac Hong Quan and Adriano Schmidt have been called up to the national team, but have not contributed much. We really need high-class players like Lee Nguyen. But before returning to Vietnam to play for HAGL, he played for the US national team in the Copa America and no longer had the opportunity to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey.

Recently, football teams in the V-League have also been proactively looking for overseas Vietnamese players instead of waiting for them to come and ask for a trial, but the source of quality players is still very limited. If we just wait for players of Vietnamese origin to come back spontaneously, Vietnamese football will easily fall into a passive position.

Stories like Van Lam are valuable, but should not be an exception. To fully exploit the potential of the overseas Vietnamese community, those born in Europe and the US with a modern physical, technical and thinking foundation, Vietnamese football needs a more proactive, strong and persistent strategy.

CHALLENGING JOURNEY

To effectively attract Vietnamese players playing abroad, Vietnam needs to build a more flexible, proactive and synchronous mechanism, especially in the issue of naturalization. Currently, one of the major barriers is the regulation that players must return to play in the country to easily complete the procedure for Vietnamese citizenship. However, with the characteristics of modern football, this unintentionally causes difficulties for players playing abroad but wishing to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey.

A reasonable solution is to create a special mechanism for players of Vietnamese blood, who can prove their bloodline, sports achievements and goodwill to Vietnamese football. They should be considered for naturalization even before playing in the V-League, through coordination between the VFF and relevant departments and agencies. This is not easy, but if there is a centralized processing channel, transparent procedures and a specific roadmap, it will help shorten the time significantly. There are also many cases where players of Vietnamese origin cannot prove their origin because their documents are lost (due to migration, war, etc.), so they also have difficulty in applying for Vietnamese nationality. This is also something that needs to be considered and created conditions for them to contribute.

At the same time, Vietnamese football needs to strengthen its connection with the overseas Vietnamese community, especially in countries with developed football such as England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, the US, Australia, etc. Establishing a representative network, linking with academies, clubs, and local coaches will help approach overseas Vietnamese players from a young age, helping to nurture their desire to join the national team. From there, cases like Lee Nguyen will be discovered early.

Most importantly, VFF needs to have an independent, specialized department responsible for monitoring, evaluating, supporting and connecting with potential overseas Vietnamese players around the world. This department can build a common database, manage information, skills, performance, family circumstances and ideology of each overseas player. The "hunting" for talent needs to be done systematically, scientifically and long-term, instead of depending on social networks, personal introductions or manual methods as at present.

Sites like Vietnam Football Scout or overseas Vietnamese communities and players' parents have been acting as unofficial "satellites". But to be truly professional, we need a clear and formal operating system, with an investment budget and long-term plans, because this is a long-distance race that requires perseverance and dedication.

Attracting and developing overseas Vietnamese players is a journey that takes time, effort and money. It is a process of building trust, removing prejudices, removing legal procedures and providing professional support. The results will not come immediately, but if we do not start today, Vietnamese football may waste a lot of talent. (to be continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cau-thu-viet-kieu-can-duoc-mo-duong-185250522220419347.htm