Going to Germany to play football is no longer impossible for Vietnamese players.

"I don't understand why Southeast Asian players have difficulty going abroad and playing in the Bundesliga," Bundesliga representative Maurice Gorges said in a discussion with Southeast Asian reporters attending the Media Tour in Germany on April 13.

Unlike the Premier League or La Liga, which always have a limited policy on the use of foreign players, the Bundesliga creates comfortable conditions for stars from Asia to seek opportunities to play football here. Japan and South Korea are at the forefront of "exporting" players to Germany.

According to Bundesliga statistics, the number of Japanese and Korean players playing in Bundesliga tournaments is up to more than 50 people. Notable players include Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund), Takuma Asano (Stuttgart), Makoto Hasebe (Frankfurt), Koo Ja-cheol (Augsburg), Ji Dong-won (Augsburg)...

The opportunities for Asian players in the Bundesliga are truly huge, but sadly history shows that only a few names from Southeast Asia have appeared in this tournament, typically in the 1979-1980 season, only Thai player Witthaya Laohakul had the honor of wearing the Hertha BSC shirt.

However, the wind may change direction in the near future when Bundesliga clubs expand their "headhunting" scope to Southeast Asia. They will not do it arbitrarily, like sending scouts to every corner of Vietnam, Thailand or Indonesia... This is very costly and ineffective.

"Of course, we will not send players to clubs for trials or advertise for the team through a commercial contract. Every move must have a clear strategy. When the Germans do it, it must be the right thing," the Bundesliga representative asserted.

Speaking more clearly about the "headhunting" strategy in Southeast Asia, Mr. Maurice Gorges explained: an organization with the task of providing professional advice will be established in Singapore, thereby receiving proposals related to finding opportunities for Southeast Asian players to play football in Germany.

At this time, the role of the Federation in countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia... is very important. They need to make a list of players who meet the full standards of playing football, then send it to the representative office in charge of the professional skills of the highest tournament in Germany.

This way, the supervisors at Bundesliga clubs will not waste time going to each place to watch the players, but instead just need to consult the list at the Southeast Asian representative office before taking the next step to directly demonstrate the faces that catch their eye.

"If we select a player with potential and ability to play in Germany, we will contact their home club to negotiate. If all agreements are approved, the selected target will have the opportunity to go to Germany and participate in training depending on the time the club decides," added Mr. Maurice.

In addition, many clubs are also willing to cooperate and create conditions for Southeast Asian talents to seek opportunities to play in the Bundesliga. At this time, a training program under the German curriculum will be applied to the players, requiring them to overcome challenges.

This is like a test to evaluate the ability of the player. If he successfully completes all the criteria set by the club within 6 weeks, the opportunity will open up for him. "This project can be implemented by the Bundesliga. We want to create all conditions for those who are truly talented and have the desire to play in Germany," said Mr. Maurice Gorges.

In 2016, Vietnamese media reported that national player Nghiem Xuan Tu was invited to try out by second division team FC Kaiserslautern after scout Fritz Fuchs "spotted" the player.

However, Mr. Maurice Gorges was quite surprised by the above information, admitting that he did not know or hear about this information. At that time, Nghiem Xuan Tu was highly praised by scout Fritz Fuchs, who said that he had a playing style very similar to Leicester star Shinji Okazaki with the ability to dribble, shoot well and with great speed.

"We don't want to create a Ferrari with a flashy shell but no engine," said the Bundesliga representative.

In recent times, Vietnam has become a fertile and potential market with big European names such as Juventus, Manchester United, Barcelona... There have been signs that these teams want to cooperate with the S-shaped country, together promoting the development of football here through opening training academies.

Meanwhile, Germany - known as the country with the strongest youth training system in the world - is not in a hurry. There are reasons for this. "We are very serious about youth training cooperation. Clubs do not want to use their names just to profit and polish their brands," said Mr. Maurice.

"They say they are cooperating with famous English names, but when they enter those training centers, there are no players or legends from English clubs participating in the training. As for the Germans, we do not allow ourselves to deceive people just to make a profit," the Bundesliga representative asserted.