Has Vietnamese football surpassed Thailand yet?

Successful overseas players

Speaking of players, Thai football still possesses outstanding players at the continental level. While Cong Phuong is packing his bags to leave Sint-Truidense (Belgium) and return to Vietnam, and Van Hau is still unable to make a starting appearance in the Dutch league, the reigning J1 League champions, Yokohama F Marinos, have reached an agreement to permanently acquire left-back Theerathon Bunmathan from Muangthong United for 35 million baht (1.2 million USD).

Muangthong United has agreed to sell left-back Theerathon Bunmathan outright to reigning Japanese champions Yokohama Marinos. (Photo: YM)

Last season, Theerathon Bunmathan played 25 matches for Yokohama F Marinos, scoring 3 goals and providing 4 assists. Theerathon was a regular starter at his new club, playing a major role in helping them win the championship after a 15-year wait.

Previously, midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin moved to Consadole Sapporo for an estimated $2.6 million. This is a club where, even when they were in the Second Division, captain Cong Vinh couldn't secure a starting spot.

In addition, there are two other Thai players currently playing abroad: Thitipan Puangchan (Oita Trinita FC, J.League 1, Japan) and Kawin Thamsatchanan (OH Leuven FC, Belgian Second Division), both of whom are regular starters. Brands like Coca-Cola, Sponso, and Toyota are vying to sponsor the Thai national football league.

Professional Championship

Xuan Truong faced quite a few difficulties while playing in the Thai 1-League. Photo: FAT

Regarding playing conditions, the 16 clubs participating in the Thai 1-League certainly won't need to rely on the "guarantee" of the VPF organizing committee like SLNA, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, and Thanh Hoa. Nor will there be a situation like Hong Linh Ha Tinh, where after "borrowing players," they have to scramble to "borrow stadiums" to run professional football. For youth training, clubs in Bangkok have 4-5 satellite football academies like HAGL and PVF, run by foreign coaches.

Even clubs like Chainat and Pataya United, which are at the bottom of the league table, don't struggle financially year after year like Nam Dinh, SLNA, or many other V.League teams. Thai clubs are better at generating revenue from football than Vietnamese clubs; most V.League clubs are purely "household" businesses, and ticket sales of only 2 billion VND per year are insignificant compared to their annual expenses of 40-50 billion VND.

For example, True Vision's television broadcasting rights will expire next year, 2020, and the Football Association of Thailand is preparing to hold an auction for media rights, broadcasting live both domestically and internationally for eight consecutive years from 2021-2028.

The winning bidder will own the broadcasting rights for the Thai National League (divisions 1-4), FA Cup, League Cup, including matches of the Thai men's and women's national football teams, the Thai national futsal team, the Futsal League, and beach soccer.

According to Siamsports, the contractors will have to spend at least 2 billion baht (approximately 1.5 trillion VND) to secure this 8-year contract. Each club will pocket at least 10 million baht (300,000 USD) in television broadcasting rights each season.

There are still many differing opinions on the quality of the V.League and the Thai 1-League. But it's clear that good Vietnamese players like Xuan Truong and goalkeeper Van Lam still face difficulties when playing in the Thai 1-League. Even naturalized player Hoang Vu Samson, with his good physique, fitness, and skills, couldn't establish himself in this league after leaving Hanoi FC.

FL highly appreciates

At the club level, from the 2014 AFC Champions League season onwards, in addition to direct qualification to the group stage, the Thai Premier League was given an extra spot in the second qualifying round along with the reigning Thai FA Cup champion. This means that Thai football has two spots, while Vietnam only has half a spot.

In the 2020 season, V-League runner-up Ho Chi Minh City FC also only had half a spot in the Champions League. Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City FC had to play a play-off match against Thai-League runner-up Buriram. If they won, Ho Chi Minh City FC would then play another play-off match against a representative from China… Meanwhile, the 2019 Thai-League champion Chiang Rai qualified directly for the group stage of the AFC Champions League, the top club competition in Asia.

Winning the AFF Cup and SEA Games, and becoming the top team in Southeast Asia, is a fact. But that doesn't mean our football has surpassed Thailand. The VFF and Vietnamese professional football clubs still have a lot of work to do.