A major challenge for Vietnamese football.

THAILAND : LEADING THE TREND EARLY

Naturalizing foreign players was once an early trend in the development of Asian football in general and Southeast Asian football in particular. The "golden generation" of Vietnamese football, with players like Huynh Duc, Hong Son, and Do Khai, surely still remember the most formidable striker in the region at the time: Natipong Sritong-In (also known by his Western name, Alfred). Natipong was born in Bangkok (Thailand), studied football in France, and his grandmother was Vietnamese. Of his 25 goals in 55 matches for the Thai national team, the striker born in 1972 scored 6 goals against the Vietnamese national team, most notably a brace in the final that helped the "War Elephants" win the gold medal at the 1995 SEA Games in Chiang Mai and another brace that eliminated us in the semi-finals of the 1996 Tiger Cup. It can be said that Natipong was the biggest nemesis of the Vietnamese defense in regional tournaments.

Indonesian football has made significant progress thanks to the influx of naturalized players.

Thai football then continued to promote its policy of using naturalized players with Jamie Wawite (born in 1986) debuting in 2002; Charyl Chappuis (1992) in 2014; Tristan Do (1993), Mika Chunuonsee (1989) in 2015; Manuel Bihr (1994), Kevin Deeromram (1997) debuting in 2017; Elias Dolah (1993) debuting in 2019; Ernesto Amantegui Phumipha (1990) made his debut in 2021… Recently, at the international friendly tournament at My Dinh Stadium last September, the "War Elephants" introduced striker Patrick Gustavsson (born in 2002) alongside Nicholas Mickelson (1999), Elias Dolah (1993), Jonathan Khemdee (2002), William Weideersjo (2001)… These players with some foreign blood have contributed significantly to helping Thai football regain its leading position in Southeast Asia under coach Park Hang-seo, through the double championship of the AFF Cup in 2020 and 2022.

Indonesia 's Unprecedented Naturalization Surge

Indonesian football is booming thanks to an unprecedented wave of naturalizations, led by billionaire Erick Thohir, President of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI), and with the special support of the Indonesian government . The team from the archipelago has been attracting many high-quality overseas players. On September 30th, two stars, Mees Hilgers (born in 2001, FC Twente) and Eliano Reijnders (born in 2000, PEC Zwolle), became Indonesian citizens. They were granted special permission to take the oath of office in Brussels, Belgium, instead of having to fly to Indonesia as before, with a record processing time of just one month. Both players – a central defender who drew 1-1 with Manchester United in the 2024-2025 Europa League, and an attacking midfielder who is the younger brother of Dutch national team and AC Milan star Tijjani Reijnders – have Indonesian roots. Previously, quite a few Indonesian expatriate stars were given the opportunity to obtain citizenship overnight at the Indonesian airport so they could fly back in time to play for their European clubs.

Naturalized player Patrik Gustavsson (9) scored against the Vietnamese team, right on his first time wearing the Thai national team jersey.

Mees Hilgers (with a transfer value of 7 million euros - approximately 192 billion VND, the most expensive in Southeast Asia) and Eliano Reijnders (transfer value of 650,000 euros) help extend the list of the most impressive naturalized foreign players in Southeast Asia and perhaps even Asia for Indonesian football. This national team boasts a squad full of Western players, including Maarten Paes (Dallas FC, USA), Jay Idzes (Venezia, Italy), Justin Hubner (Wolves, England), Nathan Tjoe-A-On (Swansea, England), Thom Haye (Almere City, Netherlands), Ragnar Oratmangoen (Fortuna Sittard, Netherlands), Ivar Jenner (Utrecht, Netherlands), Rafael Struick (Brisbane Roar, Australia), Jordi Amat (Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia), Elkan Baggott (One Blackpool, England), Marc Klok (Persib Bandung, Indonesia)... Besides the dream of the World Cup for the first team, Indonesia is strongly naturalizing players for its U.20 and U.23 teams to aim for the Olympic Games, creating a long-term successor force for the future.

LIVING TOGETHER AND APPLYING GENERAL TRENDS

The wave of naturalizing players in Thailand and Indonesia poses significant challenges for Vietnamese football, not only in regional tournaments but also on larger stages like the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers. Looking around, China, Malaysia, and Singapore also spent heavily on naturalizing foreign players. This helped Singapore dominate Southeast Asia with three AFF Cup titles in 2004, 2007, and 2012, but their dominance has gradually declined since then. Many players naturalized in China and Singapore have experienced cultural mismatches, even lacking the desire to contribute, leading to strong reactions from the public and fans in these two countries. This is also why Indonesia, after an initial phase of "hunting for foreign players," abandoned this approach and shifted its focus to thoroughly exploiting the overseas Vietnamese community in Europe.

During its development, Vietnamese football once opened its doors to naturalized foreign players, such as goalkeeper Phan Van Santos and striker Huynh Kesley, who played for the national team. However, for various reasons, the trend of calling up naturalized players to the national team has stopped. Currently, Vietnamese football has Nguyen Xuan Son (formerly Rafaelson, of Brazilian origin) who has successfully obtained Vietnamese citizenship. This very talented player is waiting to complete 5 years in Vietnam before having the opportunity to be called up to the national team by coach Kim Sang-sik. But that is a story for the future. (to be continued)

The Vietnamese national team currently has Dang Van Lam and Nguyen Filip, who are half-Vietnamese and have trained in Europe. Previously, there was Mac Hong Quan alongside Patrick Le Giang awaiting Vietnamese citizenship. This shows the potential of Vietnamese expatriate players playing abroad, but it will require time and a coordinated strategy, similar to Indonesia's, to effectively exploit this potential.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xu-huong-nhap-tich-thach-thuc-lon-cho-bong-da-viet-nam-18524100321385631.htm