Viet
Nam’s elimination from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2010
capped a significantly unsuccessful year for national football in the regional
arena.

Photo: VTC

After scaling euphoric
heights by winning the AFF Cup in 2008, Vietnamese football has come down to
earth, firmly.

After co-hosting the
Asian Cup 2007, Vietnamese football experienced considerable progress,
culminating in victory at the AFF Cup two years ago.

The next year was also
a positive one as the nation’s top-tier V-League saw the emergence of former
football star, Le Huynh Duc, as a prospective young coach. Duc led Da Nang to a
comprehensive win at the nation’s top championship.

Meanwhile, Binh Duong
made history by becoming the first Vietnamese football club to reach the
semi-finals at a continental level competition, the Asian Football Confederation
(AFC) Cup.

And then the national
Olympic team (Under 23) put in an impressive performance on their way to the
finals of the 25th SEA Games in Laos.

However, the momentum
of the previous three years was not carried successfully into 2010.

In the last 12 months,
there has been no promising result in competitions both at the club and national
team level at regional competitions.

False dawn

After beating Thailand
to take the AFF Cup 2008, many fans, experts and even the players themselves
seemed to take it for granted that Vietnamese football level has surpassed other
countries, especially Malaysia, as local clubs hammered Malaysian counterparts
at the AFC Cup.

Star striker Le Cong
Vinh, who scored the decisive goal in the final two years ago to help the
country win the first AFF Cup, and missed out this year because of injury, had
predicted that Viet Nam would reach the final before the semi-final matches.

An Olympic defender
had also said that Viet Nam would beat Malaysia while an official of the Ha Noi
Football Federation, said that Viet Nam had reached a certain (higher) class as
a result of a highly-competitive football championship, V-League and exposure to
international competitions.

These people, however,
did not take into consideration the role foreign and naturalised players play in
the V-League. The success of V-League as well as clubs like Da Nang and Binh
Duong at AFC Cup can be significantly attributed to players like Argentina’s
Gaston Merlo, South African Philani or Brazilian-born Huynh Kesley.

After a wonderful
start with a 7-1 demolition of Myanmar, the team seemed to adopt the pride of
defending champions, choosing to go on the offensive against all teams.

This strategy failed
both times, against the Philippines and Malaysia.

For football fans, the
losses were salt rubbed into the wound of the SEA Games defeat against Malaysia
in Laos last year.

The defeats have
re-ignited the debate about using naturalised players, but if we take the
long-term view for the benefit of the national team, it is better to focus on
building a really professional football environment and creating more
opportunities for talented young local players to improve their skills.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News