VFF President: Football requires patience, Vietnam cannot naturalize players like Malaysia

TPO - President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan, said that the policy of using naturalized players in the Vietnam national team needs to be implemented with consideration and evaluation of both short-term effectiveness and long-term impact on development.

“Honestly, I lost sleep for two days after watching the Vietnamese team lose to Malaysia. We are faced with the problem of how to deal with a stronger opponent, in addition to considering ensuring the long-term development of the entire football industry,” said Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan.

In the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup on June 10, the Vietnamese team lost 0-4 to Malaysia at Bukit Jalil. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team had difficulty against the opponent's naturalized players.

Can VFF stick to its investment strategy, focusing on youth football, or will it have to increase the number of naturalized players to cope with the wave of using naturalized players in Southeast Asia? In fact, the Vietnam national team currently has a number of naturalized players such as Nguyen Xuan Son and Cao Pendant Quang Vinh.

Vietnamese football needs more excellent players like Hoang Duc to go far.

However, according to Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan, to increase the number of naturalized players, many aspects need to be considered.

“We need to evaluate based on the reality of countries that have used naturalized players, the results and its impact on the long-term development of football. In addition, there are some other important issues that we cannot ignore, which is the development of the entire football system. Using naturalized players can make the national team stronger at some point, but in the long term, to develop strongly, we need internal strength. In fact, strong and sustainable clubs are the factors that help football develop well. Besides, the issue of identity and culture of Vietnam cannot be ignored,” said Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan.

According to Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan, VFF has been actively investing in youth teams in recent times. National teams including many U-teams have been given the opportunity to train abroad, compete, and gain experience. "Football requires patience," said Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan.

Little Phung

Source: https://tienphong.vn/chu-tich-vff-lam-bong-da-phai-kien-nhan-viet-nam-khong-the-nhap-tich-cau-thu-nhu-malaysia-post1752063.tpo