1. The 0-4 defeat in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers at Bukit Jalil immediately pushed the Vietnamese team into the center of a storm of debate. Many opinions said that only naturalizing players like Malaysia, the Philippines or Indonesia is the path to success.
Indeed, on the evening of June 10, Malaysia with many naturalized players such as Figueiredo, Holgado, Cools and Corbin-Ong... played so well that they caused coach Kim Sang Sik's team to collapse.
The heaviest defeat against a Southeast Asian opponent in 22 years raises big questions about the quality and mettle of the Vietnamese team. Therefore, the call for a “rescue” with a foreign passport sounds very convincing, similar to Xuan Son’s naturalization and successful performance in the ASEAN Cup, for example.
But momentary emotions can easily obscure long-term consequences. A national team is not just about scores, but also about pride and cultural cohesion. Mass naturalization may provide a short-term boost, but is it a sustainable path?
Vietnam team faces difficulties against Malaysia with many naturalized players
2. The trend of naturalization is spreading throughout Southeast Asia, Vietnam is no exception when Dang Van Lam and Filip Nguyen are the pillars, Jason Quang Vinh or Xuan Son. And the benefits have also been seen in the ASEAN Cup championship, largely created by the naturalized player Xuan Son.
However, this formula is not sustainable. Firstly, there are not many quality Vietnamese players; if we switch to naturalizing strangers, the risk of cultural integration and commitment is very high. Secondly, depending on naturalized foreign players can easily loosen the grip on domestic training, making it difficult for the younger generation to be selected for the national team.
Finally, FIFA is increasingly tightening its rules on sporting nationality; once the rules change, the naturalization strategy could come to a standstill. Naturalization, therefore, should be a supplementary solution, not a permanent solution.
3. The root solution still lies in youth training and a commitment mindset. More than two decades after becoming professional, the number of Vietnamese players playing abroad, or setting goals to go abroad, is really too small.
Choosing a naturalized player like Xuan Son, who is both skilled and highly integrated with the Vietnamese team, is not easy.
While Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia (not counting naturalized players) all tend to go abroad to play football, Vietnamese players still choose the safe option, which is to play in the V-League, even willing to go down to the lower leagues to play football with the highest goal: Economy .
To make a difference, VFF and clubs probably need to find solutions to increase playing minutes for young players, reasonably operate the foreign player quota in V-League, and more importantly, open up the way for players to go to Japan, Korea, Europe... When young players regularly compete at high intensity, their physical strength, tactics and especially their mentality will be improved.
At that time, the Vietnamese team can have an abundance of native talent, maintain its identity and no longer have to follow the "passport movement" every time it fails.
Vietnamnet.vn
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tuyen-viet-nam-nhap-tich-khong-phai-loi-di-ben-vung-2411329.html
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