Naturalized players and the story at the Asian Cup

The Indonesian team faced the top team in the continent, the Australian team, and suffered a heavy 0-4 defeat on January 28, while the Thai team will have a notable match with the Uzbekistan team on January 30. With their current strength, it is very likely that the top team in Southeast Asia will cause a big shock against the Central Asian team, like the way the Tajikistan team won against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) team after the penalty shootout (5-3).

While waiting for time and developments on the field to answer, experts and fans are turning to the story of naturalizing players of regional teams and things that can be discussed right now. Right after the predicted loss to Australia, Mr. Shin Tae-yong of the Indonesian team said something very interesting, that "It is not that Vietnamese football is getting weaker, but that Indonesia is developing better. Surely regional football will be interested in naturalizing players for development...".

That's right, the Indonesian team's "transformation" in the match against the Vietnamese team was due to the presence of 7 naturalized players, and these players helped the Indonesian defense to be steady in all situations, the midfield was strong enough to overwhelm the opponent, leading to not being able to keep up with the situations... The imposition of the opponent's physique and physical strength caused the Vietnamese team with many young players to be divided, pressured and lose their inherent abilities, leading to regrettable fouls and losing the match.

In the match against Australia, the naturalized Indonesian players did not show any signs of wavering in either defense or attack. They had many opportunities to pass and coordinate to bring the ball to the opponent's penalty area, but in general, they could not do anything real. Because the opponent knew how to launch precise and timely attacks, especially when Indonesia was out of breath and could not keep up.

Two goals in each half, including three goals at the end of each half, shows Australia's experience and shows that, despite having a large number of naturalized players currently living and playing in Europe, they are really just an initial hope, unable to think about going far and reaching the level expected...

So, overcomeVietnam teamTo advance to the round of 16 for the first time in history, the Indonesian team, despite "making a big splash", still could not surpass the "milestone" of the Vietnamese team in the history of the Asian Cup when we twice passed the group stage, the round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals. At this point, it can be seen that naturalizing players from Europe is important and necessary, but certainly not a "magic wand" to reach the continent of regional football.

Remember that the Philippine women's football team once naturalized the entire team, and unexpectedly won against the "big sister" Vietnam, like the Indonesian men's team did recently at the 2023 Asian Cup. But after that, the Vietnamese women's team was calm and confident to regain the rhythm, played reasonably against the opponent and showed the great strength of solidarity, of suitable playing style, of physical foundation, technical and tactical skills to win.

After all, in this Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team lost to the Indonesian team due to a personal foul, and we ourselves made the opponent huddle together and defend in the second half many times. Of course, just one naturalized player like Nguyen Filip is good, but not enough. The Vietnamese team needs naturalized central defenders with good physique and fitness, a naturalized striker as well as a creative midfielder who knows how to control the rhythm well.

While waiting with caution and care, the Vietnam National Team needs the healthy and high-performance return of Ngoc Hai, Duy Manh, Tien Dung, Thanh Chung, Hoang Duc, Tien Linh, Tuan Hai... If Mr. Philippe Truosier knows how to exploit the potential of the old pillars, promote the youth of new factors, even with a small number of naturalized personnel as present, the Vietnam National Team will not be afraid of any opponent in the region.

That is to say, Vietnamese football needs overseas Vietnamese players to return home and contribute to the national teams, but the most important thing is to promote and exploit the talents playing at home and abroad. Obviously, Mr. Shin Tae-yong is right about naturalizing players, but it is not enough because it takes time and many other important things to build a strong national team that meets the requirements when going out to sea.

Learning from Indonesia's successes and failures, gains and losses, and learning how to improve the quality of the Thai League, and sending talents abroad to compete, while creating a unique, unprecedented breakthrough, is the only way to hope for Vietnamese football to truly reach new heights, to truly approach the desired continental level./.

Hoa Bui