Vietnamese football has developed rapidly in recent years, not only achieving good results in Asia, but also surpassing China in the FIFA rankings to become the leader in Southeast Asia. And at next year's Asian Cup, Vietnam will also be looking to break their all-time best and reach the quarterfinals and beyond. Behind these achievements, in addition to the good foundation of Vietnamese football and the efforts of the coaching team, there is another factor that cannot be ignored, and that is the addition of naturalized players.
The Vietnam Football Association has been actively promoting naturalization, especially in the area of non-blood naturalization, and recently, the Vietnam Football Association has three new naturalization targets, all of whom are players from Europe's top or minor leagues, and if they can be successfully naturalized, the strength of the Vietnamese team will be improved again.
The first is the 31-year-old Czech-Vietnamese goalkeeper Filip Nguyen, who was one of the first naturalized subjects to be noticed by the Vietnam Football Association, having been selected for the Czech national team but did not play in an official match. He previously played for Czech side Liberec and was a regular in the Europa League. In March of this year, he officially completed the naturalization procedures, became a Vietnamese citizen, and signed a contract with the Hanoi Public Security Club in Vietnam to participate in the Vietnam League. Filip Nguyen is currently worth €600,000 and will temporarily become the most expensive player in the squad if selected for the Vietnam national team. His addition will greatly improve Vietnam's goal-line defensive capabilities.
Then there's the 26-year-old Ligue 2 side Quevilly Rouen defender Pontdown, who is a left-footed defender who can play at left-back or centre-back. His mother is Vietnamese and his father is French, and he grew up in France, playing for the New York Red Bulls and having experience in the US Professional League. He is currently an absolute mainstay in Ligue 2 with four assists as a defender over the years, and is a defensive stalwart for the team. He has expressed his willingness to naturalize to the Vietnam Football Association and is expected to complete the naturalization procedures before the Asian Cup. His addition will enhance the depth and consistency of Vietnam's defense.
Finally, striker Ibrahim Maza, who plays for Hertha Berlin in the German Second Division, is an Algerian-Vietnamese player who has been selected for the German Under-18 national youth team and is one of the key naturalization targets of the Vietnam Football Association. He is a fast, technical, and good striker who can play as a central striker or winger. At only 18 years old, he has already played in the Bundesliga, contributed one goal in two substitute games last season, and at the age of 18, he is worth 600,000 euros, and the future is unlimited. His addition will greatly enhance the offensive firepower and versatility of the Vietnamese team.
It can be said that these three naturalization targets are all high-quality reinforcements for the Vietnamese team, and their arrival will bring the strength of the Vietnamese team to a higher level, and will also bring greater competitive pressure to the existing players of the Vietnamese team and promote the overall progress of the team. For the Chinese team, this is undoubtedly unfavorable news, because the Chinese team has recently given up non-blood naturalization, and only Wu Shaocong of the Turkish Second League is left with foreign internationals, while the Vietnamese team is equivalent to easily having a number of "European foreign internationals", which will make the competition between the two teams in the Asian Cup more suspenseful. (Lao Qiu Super League Ball Review)