The national squad is short of top players for a friendly match against Germany’s Frankfurt, but coach Calisto cannot call up foreign players who have taken Vietnamese citizenship.
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Halfback Dinh Hoang Max (left). |
The national team will lack key players in the May 12 match due to injuries. Its Portuguese coach hoped to field such V-League stars as Dinh Hoang Max and Huynh Kelsey Alves but this has proven to be still impossible. In comments to Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, Calisto complained that the informal ban on using naturalized talent “causes difficulties for my development plan and wastes talent.”
Calisto has been keen on using some naturalized players since he returned to the national squad in early 2008. His first recruit was his protégé, the footballer now called Phan Van Santos. Subsequently, Calisto induced several other V-League standouts to take Vietnamese citizenship, including goalkeeper Dinh Hoang La, halfback Max and striker Alves. All played in the friendly match against Olympiakos club, notably strengthening the Vietnamese side, which prevailed 1-0.
However, these players only appeared in two mid-2009 matches, against Olympiakos and Kuwait.
Nguoi Lao Dong says there’s controversy within the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) over the use of naturalized players. Last October, the regulations that restrict the use of foreign players on V-League teams stirred up a fuss. The newspaper opines that if VFF doesn’t allow Calisto to call up naturalized players, it would be a big mistake, bad for the national squad and tantamount to discrimination.
VFF Chairman Nguyen Trong Hy comments that “this matter (of using naturalized players) is very delicate. We could be criticized for discrimination and even violations of civil rights. I think the door . . . is not completely closed. We are seeking a solution”.
VFF seems to be waiting for revised guidance from above, hesitant to take an initiative itself. VFF Secretary General Tran Quoc Tuan simply says “this matter needs time.”
Coach Calisto has pledged to call up only ‘good’ naturalized players and to preserve the essential identity of the Vietnamese squad.
PV
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