Overseas Vietnamese players struggle in V-League

The flow of overseas Vietnamese players to the V-League has increased in quantity in recent years, but quality is still a big question mark.

THE NUMBER OF OVERSEAS VIETNAMESE PLAYERS IN THE EASTERN FA Cup IS INCREASINGLY NUMBER

Throughout the history of Vietnamese professional football, there have been many foreign players of Vietnamese origin (also known as overseas Vietnamese) returning to play in the country such as Dang Van Lam, Adriano Schmidt, Michal Nguyen...

Defender Cao Pendant Quang Vinh (right) is playing quite well for CAHN Club.

PHOTO: MINH TU

However, the turning point that helped V-League open up to this resource only really came in the 2023 season, when the tournament organizers allowed each club to register 1 overseas Vietnamese player. By the 2024-2025 season, the number of overseas Vietnamese that each V-League and first division team could use had increased to 2. Thanks to that, many teams have been generous in bringing in Vietnamese-origin talents. The biggest investment is the Hanoi Police Club (CAHN Club). The former V-League champion is willing to pay high salaries to bring in overseas Vietnamese stars such as goalkeeper Nguyen Filip (who played for 8 years in the Czech Republic national championship), goalkeeper Patrik Le Giang (9 years playing in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) or defender Cao Pendant Quang Vinh, a player who played for the French U.18 and U.16 teams, as well as fought in Ligue 2 for Sochaux. These are all high-class overseas Vietnamese, not only contributing to raising the level of the CAHN team, but also becoming a resource to promote the Vietnamese team, once these players have citizenship and are called up.

Nam Dinh FC has also just added defender Kevin Pham Ba, who is of Vietnamese and French descent. Pham Ba's grandfather is Vietnamese. He grew up in the Sochaux FC training center, then played for many other French clubs such as Troyes, Le Pontet, Marignane, Martigues.

Although they did not bring in Vietnamese-American "stars", Ha Tinh Club also has very potential players such as Viktor Le (who has Vietnamese and Russian blood) or Adou Minh, a central defender who used to play in France. Hanoi Club also recruited Vietnamese-American central defender (Kyle Colonna) at the beginning of this season, and now added Pierre Lamothe (Vietnamese-Canadian). Ho Chi Minh City Club recruited Vietnamese-American goalkeeper Patrik Le Giang from CAHN Club, and this season added young central defender Zan Nguyen (who used to play in the US).

Hai Phong FC, once famous for its openness in recruiting mixed-race players such as Adriano Schmidt, Audrey Nguyen Hung Anh, Martin Lo, Van Lam, now also has a Vietnamese-American player in its squad. That is the case of Mark Huynh, a Vietnamese-American born in 2002. In the first division, PVF-CAND FC has Martin Lo and Ryan Ha, both Vietnamese-Americans who have played in the V-League. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese-American of the current champion Ninh Binh is a very familiar name: goalkeeper Van Lam.

QTY DOES NOT MEAN QUALITY

With around 13 overseas Vietnamese players playing in the V-League and the first division, Vietnamese football has a promising reserve resource for the national team. However, the contribution of overseas Vietnamese players in recent years has been limited. The most prominent among the overseas Vietnamese players in the V-League in the past 2 years are 3 names: Nguyen Filip, Cao Pendant Quang Vinh (CAHN Club) and Patrik Le Giang (HCMC Club).

Since joining CAHN Club in mid-2023, Nguyen Filip has always been the number one choice in goal. The goalkeeper born in 1992 had a difficult time, such as in the second half of the 2023-2024 season or the first half of the 2024-2025 season when he made some mistakes leading to goals, or was slow to integrate due to the language barrier. However, his efforts to practice professionally, combined with his efforts to learn Vietnamese to improve his communication skills, have helped the former Slovan Liberec goalkeeper regain his position.

This season, Nguyen Filip has kept a clean sheet in 6 matches in the V-League (an average of 1 goal conceded every 116 minutes), in which in the last 8 matches, Nguyen Filip has kept a clean sheet in 4 matches, with many important saves. He continuously flew to prevent goals for CAHN Club in matches against Ha Tinh, Ho Chi Minh City (V-League) or Buriram United, PSM Makassar (ASEAN Club Championship). Most recently in the first leg of the Southeast Asian Cup final against Buriram, Nguyen Filip denied the away team at least 3 clear scoring opportunities. In the goalkeeper position, the overseas Vietnamese group also has Patrik Le Giang who also played well, as a solid "wall" of Ho Chi Minh City Club (43 matches in the V-League in the past 3 years).

Cao Pendant Quang Vinh has played consistently in 30 matches for CAHN Club since the beginning of the tournament in all competitions, only missing 1 match due to suspension. Of these, Quang Vinh played 22 matches from start to finish. He showed his class with comprehensive offensive and defensive skills on the left wing, possessing a strong physical foundation and skillful technique. Notably, despite playing in a defensive position that requires a lot of contact, Quang Vinh has only received 3 yellow cards in the past 30 matches. Quang Vinh and Nguyen Filip are the rare overseas Vietnamese who have obtained citizenship and can join the Vietnam national team at the end of this month.

The remaining overseas Vietnamese players are divided into two groups: either they play well but need more time to evaluate, such as Adou Minh, Viktor Le of Ha Tinh Club or Kevin Pham Ba of Nam Dinh Club, or they have no clear prospects, such as the duo Pierre Lamothe (6 matches) and Kyle Colonna (14 matches), who have not been able to contribute much to Hanoi Club in the V-League so far. Overseas Vietnamese player Mark Huynh has just had his first starting match for Hai Phong after 6 consecutive matches on the bench. Center-back Zan Nguyen has only played 2 matches for Ho Chi Minh City Club since the beginning of the season, with a total time of... 5 minutes.

In this group, only Viktor Le has Vietnamese nationality and has been given the opportunity to perform at U.22 Vietnam. The rest are in the process of integration and waiting to apply for citizenship. Without a breakthrough in performance, it will be difficult for overseas Vietnamese players in the two groups above to be called up to the national team, even if they become Vietnamese citizens. ( continued )

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cau-thu-viet-kieu-chat-vat-ov-league-185250518225654304.htm