Denilson De Oliveira, a World Cup 2002 champion, has ended his short adventure in Vietnam, but other Brazilian players are still ruling V-League 2009.

Venderlei Lima (right) and Gilson Da Silva are the latest Brazilian players to join V-League.

Up to one half of the 70 foreign players registered for the second phase of V-League 2009 by 14 Vietnamese clubs are Brazilian. The remaining come from Argentina, Nigeria, Ghana, Czech Republic, Thailand and others.

The total number of foreign footballers in Vietnam is much higher, but Brazilian players still predominate.

The age of Thai and African players has passed. All local clubs are heading to South America, especially Brazil, to hunt talents.

Except for Martins Trindade, who was fired by Hai Phong for prolonged injuries, the remaining Brazilian strikers have gained firm footholds in football clubs in Vietnam.

The leading Brazilian striker is Almeida of SHB Da Nang, the top team of V-League 2009 after 19 matches, followed by Antonio Carlos of Dong Tam Long An, Elenildo De Jesus of Hai Phong Cement, Agostino of T&T Hanoi, Vanderlei Lima and Gilson Da Silva of The Cong.

Other Brazilian players like Helio and Lima (Becamex Binh Duong), Cassiano and Cristiano (T&T Hanoi), Lazaro, Mota (Military Zone 4), Molina Gaston Eduardo, Almeida Jose De Emidio, Merlo S. Gaston, Rafael S.R. Marques (SHB Da Nang), and Leandro (Hai Phong Cement) are also praised for their contributions to their teams.

Brazilians not only rule the attack line of Vietnamese clubs, but are also the “organisers” of matches. Hai Phong Cement’s Leandro is now the leading “attack organiser” of V-League, followed by Military Zone 4’s Mota, Becamex Binh Duong’s Helio and SHB Da Nang’s Rafael S.r. Marques.

Leandro (left), one of the best players in V-League 2009.

Almeida has won the Best Foreign Player in Vietnam title for the past two years. The title of Top Scorer has been monopolised by Brazilian players such as Martins Trindade and Almeida.

At this moment, the two top scorers of V-League 2009 are two Brazilian footballers, Military Zone 4’s Lazaro and SHB Da Nang’s Merlo Gaston, with 13 goals each.

Behind Vietnamese striker Cong Vinh with 10 goals are other Brazilian players, including Antonia Carlos and Almeida with nine goals each, Kesley (naturalised into Vietnamese) and Leandro with 8 goals each.

Chi Lam