In the first leg away match in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team lost 0-4 to Malaysia. That was a match in which Malaysia used 9 naturalized players and clearly showed their superiority in all aspects compared to coach Kim Sang Sik's team.
According to Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan, Malaysia is currently even stronger than Indonesia, but certainly Vietnamese football will not follow the path of massively naturalizing players to achieve immediate results.
The Vietnamese team lost 0-4 to Malaysia on June 10 (Photo: Getty).
“After the Vietnam team lost 0-4 to Malaysia, we were left with gray hair thinking and worrying about what to do in the future. We analyzed many other football backgrounds, there were also football backgrounds that they naturalized, but the consequences and how to balance with domestic football were many issues.
If we do not take the right steps, the national team may become stronger in 1-2 years, but the domestic system will weaken, the motivation for domestic players, and youth training at clubs will also be affected. A sustainable club development is the core,” Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan emphasized.
In addition to the negative impact on domestic football, according to Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan, the issue of naturalizing players is also related to identity, pride and culture.
“Each country is different. We think a lot about this issue. Vietnamese football is persistently on a path of strong development from internal strength, with calculation, if we strengthen and add naturalized players, it must be appropriate, not like other countries.
By doing so, the national team will become stronger on one hand and motivate domestic players on the other hand. Recently, many clubs have changed, making a turning point. For example, a First Division team that has just been promoted to the V-League has had a project and a breakthrough idea, helping football develop sustainably. Those thoughts come from the love for football, helping the national team become stronger in the future," said the VFF President.
VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan affirmed that Vietnamese football will not naturalize players en masse (Photo: Getty).
According to Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan, what VFF is determined to do is continue to invest in youth training with quality training trips abroad.
“We continue to invest in youth teams. In the past and in the future, many youth teams will go abroad for training, such as to Japan, Germany... Every year, VFF invests in 30 trips for youth teams to Japan, in addition, the teams will compete in China with very high-quality tournaments.
On August 3, VFF will sign a cooperation agreement with the Chinese Football Association. The Chinese side assessed that Vietnam has made breakthrough and successful developments in recent times.
This year, U22 Vietnam, the futsal team and most recently U16 Vietnam are training and competing in China. Only by playing against strong teams can players develop significantly, but if they only play domestically, they won't have many opportunities to improve.
VFF also plans to send the U15 or U20 teams to Europe for training, while the U22 team will prepare for the SEA Games in the next two years. That is a very feasible plan. I hope everyone will join VFF to have sustainable development and show their identity.
Football requires patience. I have been in football for 25 years now. After the loss to Malaysia, I lost sleep for two nights, falling into the same state as in 2006, when preparing for the 2007 Asian Cup finals.
The first time Vietnam was the host country but lost half of the team. But then we were one of the 4 host countries to reach the quarter-finals. A year later, the Vietnam team won the AFF Cup 2008 for the first time. The key to victory is to compete, compete and compete,” Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan concluded.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chu-tich-vff-tran-quoc-tuan-trai-long-ve-van-de-nhap-tich-o-tuyen-viet-nam-20250617163325735.htm
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