According to ASEAN Football, Julien Nguyen became the first player of Vietnamese origin to participate in the U.19 Juvenil de Honor. The player born in 2006 plays for the U.19 Fuenlabrada team. Before that, he spent time with the Rayo Vallecano youth team.

This is the most professional tournament for the U.19 age group in Spain, organized by the Spanish Football Federation. This tournament has the participation of many prestigious youth teams such as U.19 Real Madrid, U.19 Barcelona or U.19 Atletico Madrid. The best teams of the tournament will be selected to participate in European youth tournaments such as the UEFA Youth League, a tournament similar to the UEFA Champions League but for young players.

Julien Nguyen is 1.82 m tall, his main position is central midfielder or defensive midfielder. Thanks to his height and relatively good physique, he can compete fairly with opposing players. In addition, this midfielder is also highly appreciated for his technique, passing ability and still has a lot of potential to develop. When needed, he can take on the position of center back.

Julien Nguyen in a one-on-one fight with Real Madrid U.19 player

PHOTO: ASEAN FOOTBALL

Both Julien Nguyen's parents are Vietnamese. The family is also actively applying for Vietnamese citizenship for this player. He dreams of one day playing for the Vietnamese national team.

The "return" wave of Vietnamese players

If he can maintain his development, Julien Nguyen will have many opportunities to play for Vietnam's youth teams. After the success of Dang Van Lam, Mac Hong Quan, Nguyen Filip... the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) as well as coaches and domestic clubs are actively looking for quality players of Vietnamese origin abroad to help develop domestic football.

Currently, in addition to players who have made a name for themselves such as Van Lam, Nguyen Filip, Adriano Schmidt... many players of Vietnamese origin have also returned to their homeland to seek opportunities to assert themselves such as Viktor Le, Adou Minh (Ha Tinh Club), Jason Pendant Quang Vinh (Hanoi Police Club), Zan Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh City Club), Kyle Colonna (Hanoi Club)...

Recently, coach Cristiano Roland also called up Vietnamese-born Thomas Mai Veeren (of Dutch origin) to the Vietnam U.17 team. This player was born in 2008, lives in the Netherlands, and has a Vietnamese mother. Currently, Thomas is playing for the youth team of HV Quick, a team in the fourth division of the Netherlands. VFF said that Thomas has been called up to the Dutch youth teams.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cau-thu-goc-viet-choi-o-giai-u19-tay-ban-nha-mo-khoac-ao-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-18525030514172181.htm