Vietnamese players going abroad, is it still about rubbing shoulders and learning?

In the past, many top Vietnamese players have been exposed to and competed in different football environments abroad, however, their performances and success levels were modest. Let's take a look at the most notable names who have been sent abroad.

Le Huynh Duc

Le Huynh Duc was the pioneer in the movement of Vietnamese players to play abroad. In 2001, he went to China to play for 4 months. This was both a professional competition trip and a duty for Huynh Duc. Chongquin Lifan Club was his destination.

Le Huynh Duc is a Vietnamese player playing abroad. Photo: Fox Sports Asia

To get his services, the Chinese club had to exchange 3 players for Dong A Bank and also spent 60 special vehicles for the HCM City Police. At the new team, the HCM City Police striker only scored 4 goals.

Luong Trung Tuan

Luong Trung Tuan once went to Thailand to compete because he wanted to maintain his form. Photo: Anninhthudo

Luong Trung Tuan moved to play for the Thai Port team in early 2005 with a salary of about 400 USD/month, because he needed a place to maintain his form after the Vietnam national team's central defender was involved in a match-fixing scandal while playing for HAGL in the Southeast Asia Cup C1 in late 2003. After that, he was suspended for 3 years by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), and at the same time lost his place at the mountain town team, having to join Binh Dinh.

Nguyen Viet Thang

Also related to the match-fixing suspicions at HAGL like Luong Trung Tuan, Nguyen Viet Thang has also found a football team abroad to practice and compete to maintain his form.

Viet Thang took a photo with Quaresma during his time studying at Porto B Club. Photo: XALUAN

Viet Thang was able to join the Portuguese club thanks to the favors of his coach at the club that managed DTLA at that time, Coach Calisto. Later, when he returned and played for the national team, Viet Thang contributed greatly to repay his coach and together with his coach, won the Southeast Asian championship for the first time.

Le Cong Vinh

He is a rare player who has played abroad twice. From September 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009, Vinh played for Portuguese club Leixoes with the help of coach Calisto. At this team, the striker from Nghe An scored 2 goals against Custoias and Padroense in friendly matches. He also played 2 official matches for Leixoes in the Portuguese National Championship and Cup but did not score any goals.

Cong Vinh in the Sapporo Club shirt - Japan. Photo: Goal

In July 2013, Cong Vinh moved to Japan to play for Consodale Sapporo under a 5-month loan contract, receiving a salary of 7,000 USD/month. On September 22, 2013, he had his first official match for Sapporo V-Varen Nagasaki and in the 16th minute, he scored the opening goal. However, in the 36th minute, this striker received a second yellow card and had to leave the field. In total, Cong Vinh played 9 matches for the Japanese club, scoring 2 goals.

Luong Xuan Truong

After the success with U19 Vietnam, in 2016, Luong Xuan Truong went to Korea to play for 2 years in the colors of Incheon United and Gangwon clubs. However, the number of times this player played in the new teams was not much, 8 official appearances and no goals. At the end of the 2017 season, he returned to serve HAGL in V.League 2018.

Luong Xuan Truong plays for foreign clubs for the third time. Photo: Fox Sport

Recently, Luong Xuan Truong continued to play abroad and his next destination is Thailand's Buriram Club.

Nguyen Cong Phuong

The Nghe An player went abroad with his teammate Luong Xuan Truong in 2016. Cong Phuong's destination was Mito Hollyhock Club in the Japanese second division. However, like other names who went abroad, Cong Phuong did not play regularly and 6 matches coming off the bench were not enough for Mr. Duc's favorite child to show much.

Mr. Duc kisses Cong Phuong goodbye when the player goes to Japan to play. Photo: Mito Hollyhock

After many efforts upon returning from Japan, Cong Phuong and his teammates made a strong impression on continental playgrounds and the pinnacle was the Southeast Asian Championship Cup after 10 years of waiting. At the U23 Asian tournaments, ASIAD 2018 and Asian Cup 2019, Cong Phuong also performed very well and immediately after returning to Vietnam from Qatar, the striker from Do Luong was loaned to Xuan Truong's old club, Incheon United, to play with a 1-year contract.

Looking at previous trips abroad, we should not expect too much from the brilliant performances of Van Lam, Xuan Truong, Cong Phuong or soon Van Hau and Quang Hai in new colors. However, this is an opportunity that could not be better for the national players, young players to get acquainted with the new environment, rub shoulders with clubs from higher-level tournaments to constantly improve their capacity, courage and professional style.