Do Hoang Hen – More options for coach Kim Sang-sik

Midfielder Do Hoang Hen shared (in Vietnamese): “I am very happy, proud and extremely grateful! I have officially become a Vietnamese citizen. I love the country and the Vietnamese people. I long to contribute to Vietnamese football. I will try harder to be worthy of everyone's trust and contribute my best to Hanoi Football Club as well as Vietnamese football.”

Mr. Nguyen Minh Chau - Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) said: "VFF is very excited to have another member in the Vietnamese football family. Congratulations to Do Hoang Hen on his new life, a new mindset in Vietnam, with the love that the Vietnamese people have for him. Hopefully, Do Hoang Hen will continue to demonstrate professionalism, dedication, and soon bring practical contributions to Vietnamese football in the colors of his club and the national team."

Do Hoang Hen is considered one of the best foreign players in V.League in recent years, with technical playing style, modern thinking and high ability to create breakthroughs. This midfielder will have his debut match when Hanoi welcomes Ninh Binh in round 7 of V.League 2025-2026, taking place on October 18. This promises to be a special debut for the naturalized player in the capital team's shirt.

Previously, in the 2022 season, the Brazilian midfielder left his mark when he made a great contribution to helping Binh Dinh win third place after 16 years. In the 2023-2024 season, he moved to Nam Dinh and continued to explode with 12 goals and 13 assists, contributing to helping the team from Thanh Nam win the V.League championship.

Hendrio signed a 3-year contract with Hanoi FC and has been training for the new season. On his debut day, the 31-year-old expressed his love for Vietnamese football and people: "I came here to give my all and hope to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey."

In total, after nearly 5 years playing in Vietnam, Hoang Hen has had 29 goals and 31 assists. As a versatile player with impressive form, he is expected to be a notable factor in the Vietnam team if called up.

Currently, Do Hoang Hen is still not eligible to play for the national team in 2025. It will not be until December 2025 that the player born in 1994 will have lived and worked in Vietnam for 5 years - a mandatory condition to be called up to the Vietnamese team under the naturalization program.

This case is similar to Nguyen Xuan Son. He was naturalized as a Vietnamese citizen in 2024 and was called up by Mr. Kim Sang-sik to the Vietnamese national team to participate in the ASEAN Cup 2024. However, Xuan Son had to wait until the last match of the group stage to be eligible to play.

Do Hoang Hen will be an option for Mr. Kim Sang-sik in the national team training session in March 2026. That is the time when the Vietnamese team will have a decisive match with Malaysia in the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

Regarding his views on using naturalized players, when speaking to the press earlier this year, Mr. Kim Sang-sik expressed: “If they have citizenship, I would really like to call them up. However, to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey, Quang Vinh and Hendrio must be worthy, must truly show love, dedication, and be willing to sacrifice for the team. If they can do it, I am willing to give them a chance.”

In 2026, the Vietnamese team will have big goals in both the decisive match of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers and the 2026 ASEAN Cup. Coach Kim Sang-sik will have more calculations with his squad when Xuan Son also returns and now has Hoang Hen.

Vietnam women's team prepares for SEA Games 33
The Vietnamese women's team will gather from October 21 in Hanoi to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games. Under the guidance of coach Mai Duc Chung, a list of 27 players has been sent to the Department of Sports and Physical Training. Notably, there will be no players from the Ho Chi Minh City team in this gathering, as they will focus on competing in the 2025-2026 Asian Women's Club Championship in November.
Sharing about the personnel issue before the training session, coach Mai Duc Chung said that this is the third training session in 2025 to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand. This training session has many promising young faces of women's football in recent tournaments.
“We hope that you and your sisters will practice your best to be on the list to participate in the upcoming SEA Games, in the context that the veteran players are getting older and always want to give up their positions to talented young players. The coaching staff also hopes that the young players will progress quickly to catch up, and at the same time always create conditions for them to strive,” coach Mai Duc Chung shared.
“We all know that other countries also invest a lot in their teams, such as naturalizing a lot of athletes, causing difficulties for us. Vietnamese people are short and weak. But in return, we have a strong will, agility, and dexterity. The national women's team continues to receive many opportunities from the leadership of the Vietnam Football Federation to compete and train abroad with better teams so that we can learn and gain experience,” said coach Mai Duc Chung.
According to the plan, the whole team will gather at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center (Hanoi) on the morning of October 21 and will have their first practice session on the same afternoon. On November 20, the national women's team will go to Japan for training and is expected to have 3 friendly matches with Japanese women's teams.
HH

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/do-hoang-hen--them-lua-chon-cho-hlv-kim-sang-sik--i785022/