Foreign players in V.League
(Baonghean.vn) - V.League - the number 1 tournament of Vietnamese football contains strange and interesting things, typically the story of foreign soldiers.
According to the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES), Brazil and Argentina are two-thirds of the football nations that export the most players in the world, along with France.
Most of the major and minor tournaments around the world have the presence of players from the above 2 countries. However, V.League - the number 1 tournament of Vietnamese football is an exception.
Of the 44 foreign players currently playing in the V.League 2023/2024, players from Brazil dominate with 24 faces. Surprisingly, the neighboring country, Argentina, does not even have any faces. In fact, not now but for a long time, football teams in the V.League have not been interested in Lionel Messi's compatriots.
Gaston Merlo and Gonzalo Marronkle are two rare Argentinian players who have made a deep impression on Vietnamese football fans. In addition to his years of dedication to SHB Da Nang (2009 - 2019), Gaston Merlo also played for Nam Dinh (2020) and Saigon Club (2021 - 2022). Over 13 seasons in the V.League, Gaston Merlo has scored 147 goals.
Gaston Merlo's excellence in attack has helped SHB Da Nang win 2 V.League championships (2009 and 2012), 1 National Cup championship (2009) and 1 National Super Cup championship (2012). At the same time, Gaston Merlo has also won the V.League Top Scorer title 4 times in the years: 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2016.
Not inferior to Gaston Merlo, Gonzalo Marronkle also had an unforgettable time playing for Hanoi Club (2010 - 2017) and Ho Chi Minh City Club (2018). After 9 seasons in V.League, Gonzalo Marronkle scored 79 goals, won 3 championships (2010, 2013 and 2016), and won the Golden Boot once (2013).
After Gaston Merlo and Gonzalo Marronkle left the Vietnamese football field, there has not been any more Argentinian players who have impressed the fans here. Even the number of players from the "Land of Tango" asking for a trial has gradually decreased over time. Who knows, when will V.League become the "promised land" of the "Argentinian football world"?
If someone who is an Argentine player said that V.League is the most fierce tournament on the planet, the most selective tournament on the planet, it would not be an exaggeration. A football country that exports the third most players in the world, but does not have a single player playing in V.League. Isn't that strange?
