Vietnam team must calculate carefully
The Vietnamese team lost 0-4 to a team with 9 naturalized players from Malaysia in the match that took place on the evening of June 10 in the second round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
Notably, before this match, the Vietnamese team had gone 11 consecutive years unbeaten against Malaysia (7 wins, 1 draw). The team nicknamed "Tiger" is in crisis after being eliminated twice in a row in the 2024 AFF Cup.
However, thanks to the sudden and massive appearance of naturalized players, Malaysia has turned the tables. Malaysia's spectacular transformation has made many people wonder: should the Vietnamese team search and naturalize players en masse like Malaysia and Indonesia if they do not want to fall behind?
The Vietnam team (red shirt) can be supplemented with naturalized resources, but there must be a roadmap.
PHOTO: NGOC LINH
"My hair turned gray and I lost sleep for two nights because of that match," VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan shared at a press conference on the afternoon of June 17.
We have analyzed many football backgrounds, and compiled statistics to see which football backgrounds have naturalized players before, and what the consequences have been. If we naturalize players massively and without consideration, the Vietnamese national team may become stronger, but the domestic tournament system will weaken," the VFF leader affirmed.
According to VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan, the Vietnamese national team needs to consider many factors when using overseas Vietnamese and naturalized foreign players, such as whether naturalization will narrow the opportunities for domestic players, shake the youth training system, and affect national identity and pride.
"VFF always wants to strengthen and supplement the strength of the Vietnamese team, but there must be an appropriate way to do it, not naturalizing like what Malaysia and Indonesia did. We must try to make the Vietnamese team stronger but not weaken the domestic tournament," Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan assessed.
Should we naturalize players en masse: Lessons from other football backgrounds?
Continue to invest in youth football
According to VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan, youth teams such as U.23, U.20, U.17 will continue to be strengthened, with the goal of going far in Asian tournaments.
Vietnam U.23 ended the international friendly tournament in China earlier this year with three draws against South Korea U.23, Australia U.23 and China U.23.
U.17 Vietnam also drew three matches in the U.17 Asia group stage against U.17 Japan, U.17 Australia and U.17 UAE, losing the ticket to the U.17 World Cup in the last minutes.
The U.16 Vietnam team, led by coach Cristiano Roland, also came from behind to defeat U.16 Saudi Arabia and draw with U.16 China in an international friendly tournament. These are all positive signs for youth football.
"We will continue to invest in youth teams. VFF has reached an agreement with Bundesliga and LaLiga to exchange training cooperation and send youth teams abroad for training.
In addition, VFF is and will soon have agreements with the Japan Football Association (JFA) and the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to help the U.23, U.20 and U.17 teams to come here for training and friendly matches," Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan affirmed.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chu-tich-vff-toi-mat-ngu-vi-tran-thua-malaysia-nhung-viet-nam-khong-nhap-tich-o-at-nhu-malaysia-indonesia-185250617153023465.htm
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