Are you afraid of failure?
Vietnamese football has witnessed many instances of players going abroad to play. In the early stages of this trend, there were only a few isolated names like Le Huynh Duc (Chongqing Lifan, China), Luong Trung Tuan (Portugal, Thailand), Nguyen Viet Thang (FC Porto B, Portugal), and Le Cong Vinh (Leixoes - Portugal and Consadole Sapporo - Japan). Most players going abroad during this period were primarily for apprenticeship and gaining experience rather than for actual competition.
Between 2016 and 2022, many Vietnamese national team players began venturing beyond their borders to seek better opportunities. Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, Van Lam, Van Hau, and Quang Hai successively tried their luck in developed football leagues such as Japan, South Korea, and European countries like France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The peak was in 2019, when the Vietnamese national team had as many as three or four players playing abroad simultaneously. However, these overseas stints were all very short-lived.
Does Hoang Duc (right) have what it takes to play abroad?
The common pattern among Vietnamese players moving abroad is that they are all either loan deals or free transfers. The rare instance of a foreign team spending money to recruit a Vietnamese player was that of Dang Van Lam, when he joined Muangthong United (Thailand) from Hai Phong FC for $500,000 (approximately 12 billion VND) in 2019. And the saying "you get what you pay for" holds true. Van Lam is also the only Vietnamese player to have played a key role at a foreign club. Meanwhile, the remaining Vietnamese players are lucky to have started a few matches, otherwise, until they return home, they only accumulate a handful of playing minutes. Currently, only Cong Phuong is playing abroad in Vietnamese men's football. The entire squad for the 2023 Asian Cup is playing in the domestic league.
"Vietnamese players' reluctance to play abroad stems from many reasons, including a psychological barrier where many players are benched, leading to a decline in performance. However, we need to look at the root cause: the quality of training in Vietnam is not good, lacking standardized and consistent methods. Each training center has its own approach, failing to ensure proper nutrition and sports science ... leading to players of low quality who cannot meet the high standards in Asia. Clubs need to ask themselves why they cannot export players abroad. For Vietnamese football to develop, it must have a strategy for training and developing people according to the standards of leading football nations; only then will we have players capable of playing abroad. If we just train players and let them play domestically, then regardless of whether Coach Troussier or anyone else leads the Vietnamese national team, it will be very difficult to dream big," expert Doan Minh Xuong assessed.
CHỜ H OÀNG ĐỨC VÀ TUẤN HẢI
The common thread between the two players who recently won the Vietnamese Golden Ball (Hoang Duc) and the Vietnamese Silver Ball (Tuan Hai) lies in their shared desire to play abroad. At 26 years old, Hoang Duc has already spent five years playing for the Vietnamese national team and has been a key player for The Cong Viettel club for many years. Meanwhile, Tuan Hai has also proven his abilities in the V-League and has been a regular starter for the Vietnamese national team since January 2022. Despite the past failures of their predecessors, this duo still wants to go far to see new horizons.
Having spent many years coaching, expert Doan Minh Xuong commented: "Hoang Duc and Tuan Hai's desire to go abroad is commendable, but they should learn from those who came before them: they must find a destination that matches their skill level, a club with a football philosophy that suits their abilities, only then can they develop. This applies to any Vietnamese player, not just Tuan Hai or Hoang Duc; once they go abroad, they must get to play. Playing football at a high intensity, being exposed to modern facilities, food, and training conditions… will open the door for Vietnamese players to improve."
Japanese football has conducted detailed studies on how Japanese players improve when playing in top-tier leagues around the world, compared to playing only in the domestic league. Vietnamese football needs similar research. More importantly, if we want more players to play abroad, the training systems of clubs nationwide must be good. Otherwise, it's like counting crabs in a hole; it's very difficult to expect a generation of talented players to shine overseas."
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