Naturalization, Overseas Vietnamese and the story of improving the quality of the Vietnamese team

Vietnamese football is not out of the wave of naturalization. Photo: Tam Minh .

“Hendrio is registered as a naturalized player under the name Do Hoang Hen. During his years playing in Vietnam, he has proven his quality and promises to be a valuable addition to the national team,” football expert Doan Minh Xuong told Tri Thuc - Znews about Do Hoang Hen’s case.

Midfielder Hendrio has been registered by Hanoi as a naturalized player in the 2025/26 V.League. However, he cannot play yet because the naturalization process is still being carried out by the capital team. If the process goes smoothly and coach Kim Sang-sik gives him the opportunity, the Brazilian player can debut for the Vietnam national team as early as March 2026, when the "Golden Star Warriors" meet Malaysia again in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Inevitable trend but must be selective

In fact, naturalization for foreign players is not strange. Vietnamese football has naturalized many foreign players. However, these players did not get a place in the national team.

Striker Nguyen Xuan Son is a rare case that has made an impression in recent years. According to expert Doan Minh Xuong, for naturalized players, expertise is one thing, but culture, integration and suitability are another.

He commented: “The issue of naturalization is an inevitable trend of world football, especially for football in low-lying regions like Southeast Asia. With the big goal of Vietnamese football in the 2030 World Cup, naturalization is necessary. Currently, all clubs use foreign strikers. If they play well, domestic strikers will lose their positions, and if there are no good strikers, we must consider naturalization to strengthen the national team.”

However, he emphasized that naturalization is not a “magic key”. Indonesia is an example, in the past few years the team from the archipelago has been naturalizing players en masse to prepare for the 2026 World Cup. However, when facing strong teams in the continent such as Japan, they still lost 0-6.

“The core of a strong football industry is still a quality national championship, a good youth training system and good local players. Naturalization is a supporting solution and cannot replace the process of building a foundation,” he said.

Do Hoang Hen waits for the day to complete the naturalization process. Photo: Hanoi Football Club .

Be patient with the overseas Vietnamese players

Along with naturalization is the story of exploiting the source of overseas Vietnamese players. The appearance of overseas Vietnamese players in V.League brings a new breeze in terms of physique, technique and football thinking.

However, to become a pillar of the national team, they need time to integrate. The case of Le Viktor is an example. This Vietnamese-Russian player joined Binh Dinh 3 years ago, but it was only when he moved to Ha Tinh that he really shone and attracted attention.

“It cannot be said that if we bring overseas Vietnamese back, they will shine immediately. Vietnamese football has its own characteristics, we need to give them time to adapt and patiently create conditions for them to develop their abilities,” said expert Doan Minh Xuong.

A few years ago, the Vietnamese team had Dang Van Lam and Mac Hong Quan. Currently, coach Kim Sang-sik has Cao Pendant Quang Vinh and Nguyen Filip in the national team, or Le Viktor and Tran Thanh Trung in the U23 Vietnam team. These are all the best choices at the moment.

Le Viktor (red shirt) has been playing impressively recently. Photo: Hai Ho.

Goalkeeper Nguyen Filip, after a period of playing as the main goalkeeper at CAHN, has secured a place in the national team. Cao Pendant Quang Vinh had a good debut match. Meanwhile, in the V.League, Kevin Pham Ba of Nam Dinh and Adou Minh of CAHN are also proving their worth and desire to have nationality to contribute to the national team.

With the goal of the 2030 World Cup, Vietnamese football prioritizes developing domestic players through youth training, while supplementing the force through selective naturalization and overseas Vietnamese. The appearance of names like Nguyen Xuan Son and Do Hoang Hen promises to help the team have more quality options, but success still depends on harmonizing these resources with the playing style and culture of Vietnamese football.

Naturalization and exploitation of overseas Vietnamese only bring real value when accompanied by a long-term strategy, instead of a short-term solution for immediate tournaments. That is the way for Vietnamese football to get closer to the World Cup dream.

Source: https://znews.vn/nhap-tich-viet-kieu-va-cau-chuyen-tang-chat-cho-tuyen-viet-nam-post1581058.html