Foreign players in V.League 2021: Each family has its own story
(Baonghean.vn) - The 2021 V.League season has passed its first rounds. The quality of the tournament is only average when the most expected foreign players bring disappointment. Meanwhile, players who have reached retirement age are the breath of many teams.
Before the V.League 2021, Hanoi FC and Viettel were the teams that spent a lot of money on the transfer market. The defending champions recruited the striker who scored 24 goals in the last 2 seasons for Saigon FC, Pedro Paulo. However, after the first 2 rounds, this player did not score any goals despite playing the full 180 minutes.
Similarly, the presence of Geovane Magno and Bruno Catanhede is considered as the wings for the "tiger" Hanoi Club. The expectations of these two players are very high when Geovane scored 12 goals for Saigon Club in the previous 2 seasons, and Bruno Catanhede is the striker who scored 15 goals and 8 goals for Viettel Club in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Up to now, Geovane has only scored 1 goal, while Bruno Catanhede is still "silent". The poor performance and slow integration of the above players are causing the 2 "giants" of Vietnamese football to not have a victory.
One of the teams that has suffered the most because of foreign players is SLNA. The Nghe An team brought in a striker.Bruno Henriquescored 10 goals for Ha Tinh last season but was injured and missed the first two rounds. In the match against Saigon FC, this player only had 2 shots in the entire 90 minutes, 1 on target.
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| SLNA foreign players have not shown much. Photo: VPF |
That was also SLNA’s only shot on target, as striker Peter Samuel was even more disappointing after 3 “goalless” matches. Last season, the Nigerian striker’s scoring record was only 2 goals in 16 matches, so this is not surprising. The only striker to score 1 goal for SLNA, Filipe Martins, was just a backup and had left the Nghe An team.
Not much better than SLNA is HL Ha Tinh. Coach Pham Minh Duc's team this season recruited 3 foreign players: center back Kelly Oahimijie, striker Ismahil Akinade from Da Nang and striker Claudecir. After the first 2 rounds, despite receiving a lot of expectations, striker Claudecir had an extremely bad performance. In the opening match, despite taking 2 penalty kicks, both times this foreign striker disappointed Ha Tinh football fans. It was Claudecir's 2 missed opportunities that led to a bitter reverse loss against Than Quang Ninh at home.
After Claudecir's disappointing performance, HL Ha Tinh has decided to say goodbye to this foreign player. The new foreign player who has just arrived at the Red Mountain team is striker Chevaughn Walsh. In fact, Chevaughn Walsh is not much better. This player scored 10 goals for HAGL last season but was eliminated by Thanh Hoa Club because he did not meet the professional requirements at the club.V.League 2021.
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| HL Ha Tinh is also one of the teams having a headache because of foreign players. Photo: VPF |
One of the teams that has shown the most prudence in the transfer period is SHB Da Nang Club and the rationality in recruiting foreign players is helping this team enter the game with confidence. Bringing in striker Rafaelson - a former player of Nam Dinh Club last season who scored 6 goals, SHB Da Nang can rest assured with this player's performance. It was this player's goal that helped the Han River team win 1-0 against Than Quang Ninh. Thereby, they have 6 points after 2 matches.
Although Hai Phong FC does not have a quality domestic squad, they are quite an interesting team this season when they own foreign players who are considered “killers” in the V.League. Those are names that bring fear to Vietnamese defenders such as Diego Fagan, Jeremie Lynch. Even Diego Silva is a Brazilian player with an inspiring playing style.
The combination of these 3 foreign players with Vietnamese-American center back Adriano Schmidt creates a very difficult team, creating many gaps and opportunities for domestic players. Of the 4 foreign players often used, Fagan and Adriano have scored 1 goal, contributing to helping the Hai Phong team fly high on the rankings.
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| SHB Da Nang is one of the few teams with quality foreign players. Photo: VPF |
Equally special is Saigon FC. Despite saying goodbye to dozens of key players, it can be said that the "old men" of football are saving a team that competed for the championship last season. In midfield, Matsui, now 39 years old, shows the experience and class of a player who played in the World Cup. In attack, Takasaki is 34 years old and Do Merlo is 36 years old. However, the Argentine striker directly scored 2 goals in 3 matches, helping the Thong Nhat Stadium team to have the 2 most recent victories.
V.League 2021 still has many rounds and foreign players still have a lot of time to integrate. However, the quality of foreign players is a very difficult problem to solve and is decisive in the race to the top 6 of the teams. And not every player who played well last season will shine this year in the new team.
How many chances does Song Lam Nghe An have left in V.League 2021?
(Baonghean.vn) - After 3 matches, Song Lam Nghe An team has 10 matches left to keep their hope of being in the group of 6 teams. In the past, the Nghe An team often started slowly compared to their opponents.
