Huynh Kesley Alves (red).

Huynh Kesley Alves was ebullient holding the decision of the Vietnamese president recognising him as a Vietnamese citizen as of February 5, 2009.

He said: “I’ve been waiting for this thing for several months. After the last football season, I submitted an application to be naturalised in Vietnam with my wife’s encouragement. This is not for my football career in Vietnam. I wished to become a Vietnamese citizen because I got married to a Vietnamese girl and I’ve lived in Vietnam for more than 5 years. Vietnamese are very sentimental, harmonious and romantic like Brazilians.”

Huynh Thi Le Loc, a stage light designer, Huynh Kesley Alves’ wife, said: “Since we fell in love and got married in 2005, I have felt that Kesley is very sincere and he wanted to live in Vietnam for a long time. Last year he suddenly asked me: ‘I want to become a Vietnamese citizen, is this alright?’ I was quite surprised so I asked him, ‘Have you thought carefully about it?’ Kesley told me in Vietnamese, ‘I love this country. I know that if I’m Vietnamese, from now on I will have to ask for visas like a Vietnamese citizen whenever I want to go back to Brazil. But I’m enthusiastic about playing football in Vietnam till I’m incapable of playing and I wish to contribute more to Vietnamese football.’”

Seeing Huynh Kesley Alves after the first match of V-League, in which his team (Binh Duong) defeated Nam Dinh, he happily said: “Vietnam is now my second home. I’m proud to have become Vietnamese. I will devote myself to Binh Duong club and I wish to contribute to the national squad. I can speak Vietnamese, read Vietnamese newspapers and I can understand Vietnamese very well. It makes me comfortable about living in Vietnam.”

Huynh Kesley Alves met his Vietnamese wife by chance. At a friend’s birthday party, he saw a lithe, open girl. They became friends, lovers and then husband and wife.

The couple hires an apartment near Go Dau Stadium in the southern province of Binh Duong where Huynh Kesley Alves practices. Nearly four years after their wedding, Huynh Kesley Alves is about to become a father. His wife is about to have a boy. He said he will give the boy a name that begins with a “K”.

“He has a very simple life. During his free time, Kesley often watches Vietnamese TV or searches the web. But he spends most of his time with me. We often visit my relatives in HCM City or travel places. I’m in Binh Duong several days a week because I’m very busy with my job. He always calls and sends messages to me. I always attend his matches at the weekend in Binh Duong,” Le Loc said.

Recalling his five years in Vietnam, Kesley said: “After I won the Best Scorer title in 2005 with 21 goals, many clubs invited me to join them. After one year working for Hoang Anh Gia Lai, I knew that it is difficult to play football in Vietnam. I finally returned to the first place (Binh Duong), where I have a better environment for development.”

Huynh Kesley Alves was born on December 23, 1981 in Brazil. He played for Matsubara Club before coming to Vietnam in 2004. He won the Best Scorer title in his first football season in Vietnam in 2005.

VietNamNet/TN