Dinh Hoang Max, number 28 at Ninh Binh football club, is happy to be welcomed by the fans as a new Vietnamese citizen

Nigerian footballer Maxwell Eyerakpo is already feeling at home in his new club in the northern province of Ninh Binh.

Hanoi ACB football fans have been eyeing posters advertising their team’s match against Ninh Binh for a week now. They’ve been waiting to see how Maxwell, aka Dinh Hoang Max or simply Max, will perform against their boys in the capital’s Hang Day Stadium, now that he is a Vietnamese citizen.

Max to the max

Maxwell is no stranger to many Vietnamese fans. Before the 22-yearold became a Vietnamese citizen, he was a favorite in the front line of Dong Thap and T&T Hanoi clubs.

He played for Dong Thap in 2007 when the Mekong Delta club was newly promoted to Vietnam’s topflight V-League.

In the first five rounds, he played well and scored three goals before he suffered a hamstring injury. He couldn’t play and felt like a stranger in his own team.

But every cloud has a silver lining because in those dismal weeks he found his “better half.”

Max and his friends went to eat at a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. “It was love at first sight,” he said and decided to court her immediately.

He said it was like he found a treasure.

“We got married after a year,” the new Vietnamese citizen said. “She is living and working in HCMC. Now we have had a beautiful daughter. I am very proud of that.”

Max said he plans to settle and buy or rent a house either in Ninh Binh Province or HCMC. He said he was proud to be a Vietnamese citizen because he explained that life here is wonderful, the people friendly, the weather very nice, and the cooking delicious.

But unfortunately a professional footballer must sometimes live far away from home for long periods. There is no choice, Max said.

Last year, he couldn’t refuse an invitation by the wealthy club T&T Hanoi to play in the First Division. He intended to stay at the club in the capital when it was promoted to the V-League.

“But the life of a professional footballer is short, so I had to move to Ninh Binh for a more lucrative contract.”

At Ninh Binh, Max is playing second fiddle alongside another Nigerian, the team’s top striker Suleiman O. Abdullahi. He said he accepts that he is not the team’s number one. “The club spent a lot of money on me. I must play for it. I must always do my best in every match. Max must be the maximum,” the Nigerian Vietnamese said.

Proud to be called Dinh

There is some history to the name that Max was given to be granted citizenship.

He smiled and said, “The club owner Hoang Manh Truong told me this place, the land of Hoa Lu, was the old citadel. It was the place King Dinh Tien Hoang, the founder of the Dinh Dynasty (968-980), set up the citadel. So the family name Dinh Hoang indicates that I am Vietnamese.”

Max said he would play for Ninh Binh until the end of his contract and then assess whether he wanted to keep playing football. If he decided to stop playing, he would work as an agent to import good Nigerian players to Vietnamese clubs.

Max said he believed Nigerian players would be able to contribute a lot to developing Vietnamese football.

Like the Brazilian Huynh Kesley Alves at Binh Duong Club, who was granted Vietnamese nationality February 5, Max said he would be pleased to play for Vietnam’s national team if given a chance.

Reported by Thanh Luong