The golden ball of Hai Duong Nguyen Hoang Duc being relegated to the First Division is also normal.

Special Wave

Ho Chi Minh City Youth Club has just won the right to play in the National First Division this season. They immediately showed their ambition to move up to V.League by recruiting a series of quality players, including names that have appeared in the Vietnam national team such as Do Thanh Thinh, Le Ngoc Bao, Do Van Thuan, Trinh Duc Loi, Pham Van Thanh, Nguyen Duc Viet, Dinh Thanh Binh, Le Minh Binh, Minh Hoang...

Most recently, Ho Chi Minh City Youth Club is actively negotiating to sign a contract with goalkeeper Dang Van Lam. According to many sources, this deal is just waiting for the time to be announced. Not stopping there, Ho Chi Minh City Youth Club is even pursuing the current Vietnamese Golden Ball, Nguyen Hoang Duc. If successful, they will own the strongest squad in the 2024-2025 National First Division.

To recruit the above stars, Ho Chi Minh City Youth Club must spend a lot of money. The more famous the star, the higher the cost. For example, with Dang Van Lam, they will sign a 3-year contract with a signing bonus of up to 27 billion VND. With Nguyen Hoang Duc, this number is even higher. Recently, Nguyen Hoang Duc decided to leave The Cong Viettel when the contract between the two sides expires at the end of this year. It is not excluded that this midfielder will "shake hands" with a new club to leave sooner.

In recent seasons, Vietnamese football has witnessed many similar “strong because of rice, bold because of money” teams. The most recent are Hanoi Police Club and Nam Dinh Blue Steel. Further away are Quy Nhon Binh Dinh and Hai Phong. However, it is rare for a new team playing in the First Division to spend as much as Ho Chi Minh City Youth Club. This has made many fans and experts worried about the Vietnamese team.

This concern stems from the fact that the quality of the First Division is far inferior to that of the V.League. If players like Dang Van Lam, Nguyen Hoang Duc, Dinh Thanh Binh, Le Ngoc Bao… play regularly in the First Division, their talent and performance may be eroded. This is understandable, because the First Division not only has fewer participating teams, but is also not allowed to use foreign players.

Last season, the tournament had only 11 teams, with a total of 20 rounds, 6 fewer than the V.League. This season, the draw for the match schedule has been postponed because 5 teams, Dong Nai, Khanh Hoa, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Long An and Dinh Huong Phu Nhuan, have not yet decided to participate in the tournament.

The race for promotion has long been limited to just a few names, because many teams do not even dare to move up due to limited finances. Not to mention, SHB Da Nang, which was relegated last season, has been promoted this season because of its superior foundation to the rest of the First Division.

However, it must be said that Vietnamese football is trying to pursue professionalism, and rich teams like Ho Chi Minh City Youth are very “valuable”. No one else, they will create greater competition for the tournament, and create a good environment for players to develop.

No fuss

22 years ago, the number 1 star of Southeast Asian football Kiatisuk Senamuang joined Hoang Anh Gia Lai to the surprise of everyone. At that time, Hoang Anh Gia Lai of Mr. Duc was playing in the First Division, while Kiatisuk was like a "national treasure" of the Thai people. Shocked, but no Thai fans criticized their idol.

During his 4 years playing for Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Kiatisuk was still the number 1 choice for the Thai national team. He proved his class with goals against Yemen and North Korea in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. During this period, the scoring efficiency of “Thai Zico” only decreased due to age.

In fact, world football has also seen reverse waves like the way some Vietnamese players were relegated to the First Division. 5-7 years ago, the Chinese Super League recruited a series of stars from Europe. Many of them, such as Yannick Carrasco, Ramires, Jackson Martínez, Marko Arnautovic, Fellaini... still maintained their form and shone on the national team as usual. Some people like Carrasco, Arnautovic returned to Europe and continued their peak careers as if there had been no "setback".

More recently, there have been cases of big stars leaving major European leagues to join the Saudi Pro League. They have been criticized for being “money-hungry”, but that really does not affect their expertise as people think. NGolo Kante even has the opportunity to return to the French national team and shine at EURO 2024 after leaving Chelsea to move to Al-Ittihad.

From this, we can see that the main problem still lies with the players themselves. If they are talented and have good skills, playing in a less competitive tournament does not affect them too much. In some cases, this is even good for the players as they have more time to rest, accumulating more energy to contribute to the national team.

Not to mention, joining an ambitious club will stimulate the players’ competitive spirit. If everything goes well, Ho Chi Minh City Youth Club will be promoted to V.League after only 1 season. At that time, their national team stars will not have to spend as much time “regressing” as people think.