Following its friendly match against Greek Olympiakos last week, the national football team is preparing for another match vs. Kuwait on May 31.

Dinh Hoang Max, Nigerian-Vietnamese halfback.

For the first time, chief coach Henrique Calisto has called up three foreign players recently nationalised in Vietnamese for the upcoming match, namely halfback Dinh Hoang Max (Nigerian-Vietnamese), goalkeeper Dinh Hoang La (Ukrainian-Vietnamese) and striker Huynh Kesley (Brazilian-Vietnamese).

This is the second time Dinh Hoang Max and Dinh Hoang La will have played for the national squad, but the first time for Huynh Kesley.

In their first match in the Vietnamese national jersey against Olympiakos on May 14, the two played well. Dinh Hoang La successfully protected the Vietnamese goal for 90 minutes. Hoang Max joined the match in the second half and assisted on the score by Quang Hai for the sole goal for Vietnam.

Huynh Kesley, who has played for Binh Duong Club since 2005, is one of the best scorers in V-League. He was the best scorer in V-League 2005 with 21 goals. He got married to a Vietnamese girl in 2006 and was nationalised in Vietnamese in early 2009. Kesley has four goals this football season.

Calisto said that three foreign players is a good number for the national squad. The Vietnamese team should be built up mainly on domestic players.

Coach Henrique Calisto and Brazilian Vietnamese striker Huynh Kesley.

Besides Kesley, Calisto called up more players from Binh Duong, namely Nhu Thanh, Vu Phong, Quang Thanh and Anh Duc.

The national team gathered on May 19 with 26 footballers. They will practice for ten days before travelling to Kuwait for the friendly match. However, Calisto will go to Kuwait with only 20 players.

26 football players convened on May 19:

Goalkeepers: Dau Ngoc Tan (Military Zone 4 Club), Tan Truong (Dong Thap), Dinh Hoang La (Ninh Binh)

Fullbacks: Phuoc Tu (The Cong), Minh Duc (Hai Phong), Viet Cuong (Hoang Anh Gia Lai), Tran Van Hoc (Da Nang), Dinh Luat (Military Zone 4 Club), Chu Ngoc Anh (Nam Dinh), Nhu Thanh, Quang Thanh (Binh Duong)

Halfbacks: Trong Quang (Song Lam Nghe An), Thanh Hung (Da Nang), Vu Anh Tuan (Dong Thap), Dinh Hoang Max (Ninh Binh), Thai Duong, Tran Duy Quang (Hoang Anh Gia Lai), Tan Tai (Khanh Hoa), Minh Chau (Hai Phong), Vu Phong (Binh Duong)

Strikers: Cong Vinh (T&T Hanoi), Viet Thang (Dong Tam), Quang Hai (Khanh Hoa), Thanh Binh (Hoang Anh Gia Lai), Huynh Kesley, Anh Duc (Binh Duong)

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