Why are SLNA's young players gradually disappearing from the Vietnam U23 team?

Just one day after the resounding victory ofVietnam U23Following the SEA Games 31 men's football final against Thailand U23, the Vietnam U23 squad for the upcoming AFC U23 Asian Championship in June, under new coach Gong Oh-kyun, has been announced. The squad includes 25 players, 14 of whom recently won the SEA Games gold medal, and several other notable players who were called up during the tournaments under coach Park Hang-seo. Simultaneously, Coach Park Hang-seo also announced the Vietnam national team's squad for the friendly match against Afghanistan.

What has caused football fans in general, and Nghe An football fans in particular, to feel puzzled, regretful, and questionable is why, in these lists, especially for the Vietnam U23 team in several consecutive rounds, there has been a complete absence of players from the famous SLNA youth academy?

Vietnam U23 team. Archival photo.

Let's look back at the glorious period of Vietnamese football, starting from when South Korean coach Park Hang-seo took the helm in 2017. The first official tournament this coach participated in was the 2018 AFC U23 Championship in Changzhou, China, and the SLNA players called up at that time were Van Duc and Xuan Manh – two players who were called up as last-minute additions but quickly shone, with one of them later becoming a "favorite" of the coach to this day.

In two important and successful tournaments under coach Park Hang-seo, the 2018 AFF Cup and the 2019 SEA Games, the only player from the SLNA academy in the Vietnamese national team was Van Duc (not including Ngoc Hai and Trong Hoang who had left), while in the U23 team, Trong Hoang was over 23 but was playing for Viettel. At the recent SEA Games 31, the final 20-player squad also did not include any SLNA players, although midfielder Van Lam made it to the 25-player round, not to mention names like Van Viet, Sy Hoang, and Ba Sang… And at the 2022 U23 Asian Championship, there were no SLNA players, even though the head coach of the U23 Vietnam team was replaced by a completely new name, Gong Oh-kyun.

To illustrate, although SLNA's youth training achievements were impressive in the past, they have recently fallen behind the strong development of academies like Hanoi, Viettel, HAGL, and PVF. While SLNA can consistently win top spots in U11, U13, U15, and U17 tournaments – most recently the success of the Dinh Xuan Tien-Van Cuong generation at the 2020 U17 tournament – ​​the story is completely different at the U19 and U21 levels. At the aforementioned 2020 U17 tournament, Xuan Tien and his teammates completely dominated their opponents, but just two years later, at the U19 finals, SLNA, with the same talented players, was outmatched and suffered heavy defeats against U19 NutiFood Academy, U19 Hanoi, and U19 Vettel. The biggest hope of the SLNA academy was this generation of players, but they quickly fell behind after just a few years, like Van Truong of Hanoi U19 who was recently called up to the Vietnam U23 team, and Xuan Tien, despite his promising future, is still a long way from reaching his glorious dream.

So why is it that despite a strong foundation from the start, the performance of SLNA's "junior champions" declines compared to their rivals as they progress? Could it be that SLNA's recruitment process, primarily based within the province, is inferior to other academies that recruit from across the region and the entire country? Could it be that training young players using traditional methods and experience is no longer comparable to the scientific, advanced methods taught by foreign coaches? Answering these questions might provide a concrete explanation for the increasingly sparse attendance of SLNA academy graduates in the most important national football tournaments.

Incidentally, I'd like to quote the words of Vietnam U23 player Van Xuan, who participated in the SEA Games 31, regarding youth training. Van Xuan was trained at the PVF academy, played for Hong Linh Ha Tinh FC, and is now part of Hanoi FC, replacing Van Hau while the latter was recovering from injury. Van Xuan recounted that during his time at PVF and at Hanoi FC, "I didn't have to worry about anything, I just focused on playing football. But when I played, I had to do it properly. Not winning the championship was a failure." And the most important thing that helped him and his teammates become more confident was the regular opportunity to play competitive matches. "In other places, young players only get to play around 10 matches a year. We play 20 matches normally. In 2016, I played about 60 matches, constantly touring abroad. Of those, about 30 matches were in Japan…"

While some teams may be complacent and proud of their initial achievements, their internal competitions, and matches against amateur teams, when they face academies like PVF, where Van Xuan once trained, or the Viettel academy of Thanh Binh, Manh Dung, and Tuan Tai, they only suffer complete defeat. Not to mention, if a talented player "treats injuries by applying herbal remedies," how can they possibly dream of going far and progressing significantly?

It's worth noting that in the national team selections, it's not just players from Hanoi FC, Viettel, HAGL, etc., with fierce competition like how Van Tung and Van Truong, who recently played in the U19 team, managed to "surpass" their seniors Xuan Tu and Van Dat (both from Hanoi FC) to make the official list. There are also players from Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Binh Duong...? These clubs don't have any particularly prestigious academies, yet they still produce top-tier stars called up to the national team, while the once-famous SLNA academy has only managed to produce Van Duc, and now Ngoc Hai, who has just returned, after struggling for 3-4 years.

Of course, there's still a consolation: many talented SLNA players may not fit the football philosophy of coaches Park and Gong, as Văn Quyết, Hữu Tuấn, Văn Triền, Văn Vũ, etc., have had to accept for a long time. So, they should try their best, work hard, overcome challenges, and showcase their qualities and abilities in a different arena, such as the V.League or the AFF Champions League, for example.

By then, whether you're called or not, there's no need to worry or fret; just having faith in yourself is enough, and that's the right thing to do.