Viettel Football Club is trialing goalkeeper Lawrence Caruso, and here's the latest Vietnamese football news on February 21st.

The transfer market and preparations for the return of the V-League 2025/2026 are becoming vibrant right after the Tet holiday. The most notable highlight is the appearance of a new overseas Vietnamese player at the headquarters of The Cong Viettel, along with personnel and legal changes at top football clubs.

The Cong Viettel is trialing Vietnamese-American goalkeeper Lawrence Caruso.

During their first training session after the Lunar New Year holiday, Viettel Sports Club surprised everyone by introducing Lawrence Caruso, a promising Vietnamese-Australian goalkeeper currently on trial. Caruso is not an unfamiliar name, as he made history in the Australian National League as one of the most promising young goalkeepers.

On his personal page, Lawrence Caruso shared the first images of himself in the military team's jersey. This is seen as a move by the head coach of The Cong Viettel to strengthen the defense as a crucial stage of the season approaches. If the trial is successful, Caruso will be a quality addition to the team's goalkeeping position.

The Malaysian team is keeping everything under wraps ahead of their rematch against Vietnam.

The Malaysian national team is employing a "no entry, no exit" strategy ahead of their 2027 Asian Cup qualifying match against Vietnam. This move comes amidst turmoil in Malaysian football following a scandal involving seven players sanctioned by FIFA for suspected falsification of naturalization documents.

Coach Peter Cklamovski has ordered a halt to all updates of training and team activities on social media platforms. This silence has sparked mixed reactions. Malaysian football legend Jamal Nasir has strongly criticized this action, arguing that the lack of transparency will alienate fans during this sensitive period, especially with the crucial match on March 31st fast approaching.

A legal turning point for Hanoi Police and the case of Leo Artur.

At the continental arena, the newspaperThe Straits Times(Singapore) has just published an article acknowledging that Tampines Rovers had a lucky victory against Hanoi Police (CAHN) in the AFC Champions League 2. The AFC's decision to award CAHN a 0-3 defeat for using ineligible players completely changed the outcome, even though the Vietnamese representative had previously won overwhelmingly 4-0 from a professional standpoint.

However, good news has arrived for coach Mano Polking and his team in the domestic league. Their main striker, Leo Artur, has been confirmed eligible to play in the rescheduled V-League Round 10 match against Thanh Hoa on February 24th. According to the VPF announcement, his red card suspension in the AFC competition does not affect his eligibility to play in the V-League. This is a major boost for the police team's attack.

V-League teams resume training early, and there are positive signs from the youth teams.

Starting from the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, many V-League teams simultaneously gathered to prepare for Round 14, which kicks off the following weekend. These first training sessions of the new year took place in a bustling atmosphere, aiming to help players regain their fitness and ball control.

Besides the return of professional leagues, the Vietnam Football Federation's (VFF) plan to send the U21 team to the 20th Asian Games in Japan is also attracting attention. In the preliminary list, striker Nguyen Minh Tam (born in 2005) is the most prominent figure. With a height of 1.81m and an impressive performance of 3 goals in 10 appearances in his first V-League season, Minh Tam is expected to be a breakthrough player for Vietnamese football in the near future.