Vietnamese football stars and 'headwinds'

Remember to add the “data” related to these stars thatMr. Troussier once announced: They are still top-class strikers compared to the V-League level and Cong Phuong just scored a beautiful goal with Van Toan assisting the goal in the match against the Palestine team mentioned above.

The story of “looking for a club to play regularly” is actually related to Vietnamese football stars both abroad and in the country. First of all, Quang Hai left Hanoi FC to join the French Second Division in the 2022-2023 season. This special talent of Vietnamese football seems to be “wearing a shirt that is too tight” in the V-League, needing to continue to open up the desire to improve in bigger football tournaments. But then everything is not just rosy but actually countless shades of gray, disappointing and forced to reconsider while still possible.

The story of Quang Hai moving from Hanoi FC to France may not coincide with the way Cong Phuong or Van Toan moved from Hoang Anh Gia Lai to Japan and Korea. Cong Phuong was not really in good form at that time and the home team was not ambitious, so going to Japan was more of a commercial deal than a football deal, because Phuong "joining" a J-League 1 team was not an easy thing when he had not been successful in J-League 2 before? Van Toan's move was more carefully calculated thanks to the patronage of Mr. Park Hang-seo, at first it seemed easier to integrate and develop, but then the same mistake still happened, just like Quang Hai or Cong Phuong have been and are going through.

And then the sensational story of Vietnamese football stars all encountered and accepted the unwanted "headwind" of returning home to save their careers. Quang Hai returned to V-League from the second phase of the last season and was still able to win the 2023 championship with Hanoi Police even though his contribution was not as outstanding as expected.

After an impressive performance in the friendly match of the Vietnam National Team, Van Toan was also announced to return to V-League in the Nam Dinh shirt, a team that is certainly much more ambitious than Hoang Anh Gia Lai at this time. And at this moment, Cong Phuong seems to have "absorbed" the French coach's words about returning to V-League, the real playing field for those who still maintain their inherent class, just one day, two days...

The story of star players and the legitimate ambitions of individuals and groups during the transition and repatriation process in the V-League has also happened. Without Binh Dinh's ambition, it would not be easy for Van Lam, Dinh Trong... to return to wear the jersey of the martial arts team. After a bad season, Binh Duong is investing to return, leading to the departure of Ngoc Hai, Hai Huy... Nam Dinh is also truly a land for stars to return to, including Van Toan in the repatriation trip we just mentioned.

“Going out is to return” of football stars like Quang Hai, Cong Phuong and Van Toan is not a new thing in Vietnamese men's football for a long time (as for women's football, Huynh Nhu is still doing well in Portugal) because before that, at different levels, seniors like Huynh Duc and Cong Vinh also had similar outcomes.

At this point, it is necessary to remember the not-so-happy statement of Mr. Troussier himself that "Vietnamese football does not have continental-level talent" so to raise the level at this time, we must raise the level of a collective, multiplying the strength from the solidarity and consensus of each individual in a collective sport like football. Of course, a strong team must have stars, in the current case of Vietnam, it is a "collective star" and there is no other way if we really want to go up, want to raise the level of the continent.

It turns out that in the end, there is still no shirt too tight for V-League stars like Quang Hai, Van Toan or Cong Phuong... They still have to really fight in V-League to survive, to maintain the level they have reached. The above players once shone brightly under Mr. Park Hang-seo but are currently unable to completely occupy a place in the new coach Troussier's way of doing things, which means that if they do not play regularly at a high level, do not play in ambitious teams, they can "out" of the Vietnam national team at any time.

So, whether Mr. Troussier suggests or whispers, the stars playing abroad or in the country must decide “immediately” while everything is still possible. And the information related to Van Toan and Cong Phuong in recent days is proving that…/.