Duy Manh, Tien Linh and Xuan Son "3 trees together" at AFF Cup 2024

Photo: Minh Tu

Xuan Son: The bright spot of naturalization of the Vietnamese team

AFF Cup 2024 marks a historic milestone when the Vietnamese team introduces naturalized striker Nguyen Xuan Son (formerly Rafaelson, of Brazilian origin) - the first naturalized foreign player in 15 years since Huynh Kesley and Phan Van Santos in 2009.

Appearing in the 5th round of the group stage, Xuan Son immediately left a strong impression with 2 goals and 2 assists in the 5-0 victory over Myanmar, helping the Vietnamese team solidify their position at the top of Group B with 10 points.

Xuan Son then created a strong fever, continuously scoring and assisting his teammates in the semi-finals and finals of the AFF Cup. Despite breaking his leg in the second leg of the final at Rajamangala, he still excellently won the Golden Boot and Best Player titles with 7 goals.

Xuan Son has caused an unprecedented fever at AFF Cup 2024

Photo: Minh Tu

Not only did Xuan Son leave a strong impression with his talent and endless physical strength, his performance also convinced the most demanding fans when he always entered the field with a fighting spirit against his opponents but was humble and sociable with his new teammates.

Thanks to that, in just a short time, the Brazilian striker has captured the love of many Vietnamese fans, attracting special attention from the regional media. Many Southeast Asian fans have praised him and compared him to many of their own country's bland naturalized foreign players.

Achievement goes hand in hand with identity

Vietnamese football has dozens of naturalized foreign players, but many of them aim mainly to improve their income by being able to play in the V-League as domestic players. Wearing the Vietnamese national team jersey is not their biggest aspiration.

Xuan Son quickly integrated thanks to his special love for Vietnam.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

However, reality also shows that there are many foreign players who love Vietnamese life, culture and people and desire to contribute to the Vietnamese team. Therefore, the appearance of Xuan Son has become a very remarkable milestone.

This will help the Vietnamese team open up another source of quality input, besides overseas Vietnamese players with part Vietnamese blood such as Van Lam, Nguyen Filip, Mac Hong Quan, Adriano Schmidt...

Importantly, Xuan Son has proven that talented foreign players, if they proactively integrate into Vietnamese culture and show their love for the country and people of Vietnam, can make great contributions while still preserving the identity of the Vietnamese team.

Cao Pendant Quang Vinh has 1,752 minutes of playing time, the second highest of CAHN Club in V-League 2024 - 2025

Photo: Minh Tu

Remember, the 2024 Vietnam Golden Ball Nguyen Tien Linh once confided very honestly: "The appearance of Xuan Son may affect my chances of playing, but it also motivates me to try harder", showing that quality foreign players bring positive competition that will help upgrade the level of the Vietnamese team to aim for a bigger playground like the World Cup.

It is expected that in the next training session, the Vietnamese team will welcome another naturalized player when left-back Cao Pendant Quang Vinh has officially become a Vietnamese citizen. The 1997-born boy who played for the French U.16 team and played in the French second division, the US Major League Soccer (MLS) can play well in the positions of left-back, left-center back and defensive midfielder.

In addition, Mr. Kim can call up another overseas Vietnamese player with a Vietnamese passport, Viktor Le, a young midfielder who played impressively for the Vietnam U.22 team in China recently, to join the Vietnam team for the important away trip to Malaysia next June, in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Will the duo Xuan Son - Hendrio reunite in the Vietnamese national team jersey?

Photo: Linh Nhi

It is expected that in 2025, another quality foreign player, midfielder Hendrio - who has soon satisfied the condition of living and working for 5 years in Vietnam - will officially start the procedure to apply for naturalization to become a Vietnamese citizen.

The creative midfielder with a very skillful left foot, "shooting" Vietnamese like the wind is very loved by fans. To the point that Vietnamese football fans suggested him very interesting Vietnamese names such as Nguyen Xuan Hen, promising to be another case of sweet integration thanks to love for Vietnam like Xuan Son.

Not mass naturalization like Indonesia at the moment, avoiding the lesson of expensive foreign players lacking desire from Indonesia, Malaysia or China before, but the way of achievement combined with identity seems to be the right and suitable path to accelerate the journey to raise the level of the Vietnamese team.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-thanh-cong-nho-dieu-dac-biet-giu-vung-ban-sac-va-nhap-tich-chon-loc-185250421205007645.htm