Vietnam Overseas Team

This team includes uncapped players who have Vietnamese origin playing abroad. Why don't VFF give them a chance with the national team ?

1. Patrick Le Giang
Born in 1992 (age 17)
Club: MSK Zilina (Slovakia)
Position: Goalkeeper



2. Vinh Long Willemin
Born in1982 (age 27)
Club: Racing Union (Luxembourg)
Position: Defender right/center



3. Josue Liotte
Born in 1984 (age 25)
Club: Racing Union (Luxembourg)
Position: Defender centre



4. Nguyen Quoc Trung
Born in 1990 (age 18)
Club: St. Gallen ( Switzerland)
Position: Wing-back left



5. Truong Minh Tuan
Born in 1981 (age 28)
Club: Marken (Holland)
Position: Defender right




6. Ludovic Urai
Born in 1987 (age 22)
Club: Toulon (France)
Position: Midfielder center



7. Johnny Nguyen
Born in 1986 (age 23)
Club: Stade Reims (France)
Position: Attacking midfielder center




8.Christopher Nguyen
Born in 1988 (age 21)
Club: Karlsruhe SC II (Germany)
Position: Attacking midfielder right



9. Tram Vinh
Born in1987
Club: Sinimustat (Finland)
Position: Attacking midfielder right/left



10.Tran Thanh-Tan
Born in 1988 (age 21)
Club: Hamm (Germany)
Position: Striker




11. Thach Duong
Born in 1985 (age 24)
Club: Vasteras IK (Norway)
Postion: Striker



Substitutions:

12.Louis Thieu
Born in 1991 (age 18)
Club: Ham Kam (Norway)
Position: Midfielder Center




13.Emil Le Giang
Born in 1991 (age 18)
Club: MSK Zilina (Slovakia)
Position: Striker



14. Bui Minh Duy
Born in 1990 (age 19)
Club: Moss (Norway)
Position: Attacking midfielder left / Striker


(Source: bongdavietnam.org & ttvnol.com)

The saga continues...

It is getting more and more ridiculous.

Well, we're talking about The Cong (it should be Viettel FC now) again. Its destiny is still under doubt. Since Viettel Telecom put the club on sale last month, some organizations and other clubs from all over the country have shown their interest. They are Ho Chi Minh City FC, an unknown group from Binh Duong and the most recent is ACB Ha Noi.

The deal between Viettel FC and its bitter rival ACB Ha Noi for a merge was widely expected to be realized in near future. Suddenly (as usual), ACB Ha Noi president has changed his mind at the eleventh hour. There would be no merge. The cause was not unveiled.

Viettel Telecom now have to switch to all other available options. They are said to be very willing to "sell their V-League place". And the latest name is Thanh Hoa. Thanh Hoa was relegated from V-League recently. It's reported that both sides have basically reached an agreement. However, it has not been a sure-fire deal yet. Apparently, saga keeps going and going.

SHB Da Nang In Play-Offs For 2010 Asian Champions League

Only two teams - one from East and one from West - from the play-offs will qualify for the group stages of the 2010 AFC Champions League.
The following teams are eligible to compete in the AFC Champions League 2010 Play-Offs.
Al Karama (Syria, AFC Cup winners/runners-up)
Kuwait SC (Kuwait, AFC Cup winners/runners-up)
Churchill Borthers SC (India, league champions)
Sriwijaya (Indonesia, knock-out champions)
Singapore Armed Forces (Singapore, league champions)
Muang Thong United (Thailand, league champions)
SHB Da Nang (Vietnam, league champions)
Al Wahda (United Arab Emirates, fourth place)

AFF Champions League to start in 2010 ?

October 27th: In a press conference featuring VFF and representatives from biggest Vietnamese broadcasting companies, Dentsu Alpha Ltd. stated that they have acquired the broadcast and digital rights to key football events from World Sport Group in Vietnam. These events include AFF Cup 2010 – 2012, FIFA World Cup 2010, FIFA World Cup U-20, FIFA World Cup U-17, AFC Cup, AFF Champions League 2010-2012 and Asian Cup 2011.

Dentsu Alpha Ltd. is an oversea subsidiary of Dentsu Inc., a Japanese worldwide advertising group.

Important players return to Vietnam NT

Vu Phong and Cong Vinh (look at their faces lol)

In preparation for Syria match, Nguyen Vu Phong (Binh Duong), Huynh Quang Thanh (Binh Duong), Nguyen Anh Duc (Binh Duong), Le Cong Vinh (Leixoes SC) and Le Phuoc Tu (Viettel FC) were called up to Vietnam NT to replace Nguyen Duc Duong (Nam Dinh), Nguyen Anh Tuan (Viettel FC) and Nguyen Tuan Vu (Huda Hue).

Phuket Kata Group Cup 2009 Results 27/10

Ocotober 27th:
Muang Thong United v HAGL 1-1 (3-4 pen.)
Thailand XI v Yadanarbon 2-0

Next fixture:
October 29th:
Thailand XI v HAGL
Muang Thong United v Yadanarbon

Another club name lost

After The Cong was renamed to Viettel FC, another V-League club Military Zone 4 (Quan Khu 4 in Vietnamese), which also used to be controlled by Ministry of National Defense, has been transferred to Navibank.

The club's new name is Navibank Sai Gon and is going to change its base from Vinh City to Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam v Syria hots up

October 26th: Kuwait v Syria 1-0
The only goal was in 93rd min.

October 21st: Al Karamah (Syria) v Binh Duong (Vietnam) 3-0
Both Binh Duong and Al Karamah are top clubs from each nation and have some good national team's players. Binh Duong was completely outplayed.

October 15th: Binh Duong (Vietnam) v Al Karamah (Syria) 2-1
Binh Duong played well and won deservedly.

May 31st: Kuwait v Vietnam 0-1
Vietnam won because of the only goal scored by Trong Hoang and string of fantastic saves by Dinh Hoang La. This match was also the official debut of 3 naturalized players.

October 14th: Vietnam v Syria: ?
It's hard to predict. No one can base on other indirect results. Moreover time goes by, a lot of things have changed.

Edson Tavares to V. Ninh Binh

After successfully signing Vietnamese stars Viet Thang and Nhu Thanh, The Vissai Ninh Binh is reported to plan on bringing former Vietnam national team 's head coach Edson Tavares to Ninh Binh City in preparation for their first V-League season. Despite having a young and talented coach like Nguyen Van Sy, Ninh Binh's board seems worried about his lack of experience for a severe competition like V-League.

Edson Tavares is currently unemployed after his short spell with Sepahan (Iran).

Watch Phuket Kata Group Cup 2009 Live

Live on NBT19 (Siamsport)
Watch here

PHUKET CITY: Organizers of the Phuket Kata Group Cup have announced the opening fixtures for the four-team tournament, which kicks off on October 27 at Surakul Stadium.

In the semifinal matches, the Thailand XI, coached by new boss and former England star Bryan Robson, will face 2009 Myanmar National League Cup winners Yadanabon FC, while Thai Premier League champions Muang Thong United will take on Hoang Anh Gia Lai from Vietnam.

The fixtures will take place at 5pm and 7pm respectively.

The two winning sides will face each other in the final, scheduled to take place after the third/fourth place match on October 29.

Physical side in football

Firstly, football is a sport. It means the stronger and faster, the better.

In football of top level, most players have decent or good physical attributes . Besides natural factors, the reason is that youth team coaches and scouts tend to choose young players with better height, strength and pace even if some physically weaker youngsters play better at the same age. They believe good physical qualities provide a young player a very BASIC CONDITION to help him develop his ability and more chances to fulfill his potential through training. POTENTIAL is exactly what coaches expect from young players not what they can do at a tender age.

For instance, some shorter players could be very good at heading but never win headers because they are always outjumped by higher ones. Some may have brilliant scoring ability but never have a chance to face goalkeeper because they are stopped by much bigger and stronger defenders from far outside. Some can cross well but too slow to escape from quicker fullbacks. Those weaker players may have some excellent abilities but they have little chance to show them. Sometimes the better ones are simply the bigger, stronger and faster ones.

This difference proves even clearer in football of low level. Physical superiority is more important here where most players have limited football skills.

It looks like some youth-team coaches need to change their criteria in choosing and developing young players. Look at future not today!

VFF offer Calisto new contract

VFF and Calisto looking for better relationship ?

Despite Vietnam NT's poor results in Ho Chi Minh City Cup 2009 and unpleasant relationship with Henrique Calisto, Vietnam Football Federation has officially offered Vietnam national team's head coach a new 3-year contract. His current contract with Vietnam NT will be expired in March 2010.

VFF believe Calisto fully deserves a new contract as he successfully led Vietnam national team to the AFF Cup championship in 2008 and expect Calisto to help Vietnam NT qualify for Asian Cup 2011. Henrique Calisto himself proved happy to extend his stay with Vietnam national team. He was believed to have rejected some offers from several V-League clubs and overseas as well.

HAGL busy with pre-season plan

Michal Silhavy joined HAGL from SLNA

HAGL will start its pre-season training tour with Phuket Kata Cup 2009 held in Thailand. The tournament will last from 27th to 29th October. After that friendly cup, HAGL will fly back to Bangkok and play a friendly match with a Thai Premier League side before joining The Vissai Ninh Binh, Cambodia U23 and Laos U23 in Cambodia Royal Cup 2009 held in Phnom Penh in early November.

The squad will be without coach Kiatisuk Senamuang until December due to his duty with Thailand U23. Dusit, caretaker coach, and newly-appointed assistant Duy Quang will be in charge.

HAGL squad for training tour:

Coaching Staff:
1. Nguyễn Tấn Anh (Delegation leader).
2. Dusit Charlemsan (Caretaker coach).
3. Trịnh Duy Quang (Assistant).
4. Đồng Xuân Lâm (Physio).
5. Nguyễn Kim Luân (Translator).

Players:
1. Lê Văn Trương.
2. Nirut Surasiang (Đoàn Văn Nirut). (to be with Thailand NT)
3. Sakda Joemdee (Đoàn Văn Sakda).
4. Datsakorn Thonglao (to be with Thailand NT).
5. A Huỳnh.
6. Nguyễn Việt Anh.
7. Phùng Văn Nhiên.
8. Trần Minh Thiện.
9. Nguyễn Đình Việt.
10. Hoàng Công Vương.
11. Hồ Văn Thuận.
12. Dương Văn Pho.
13. Võ Út Cường (U21).
14. Bùi Trần Vũ (U21).
15. Nguyễn Tuấn Mạnh (U21).
16. Kiều Thanh Liêm (U21).
17. Khuất Hữu Long (U21).
18. Bùi Xuân Hiếu (U21).
19. Nguyễn Ngọc Nguyên.
20. Lee Thế Anh Nguyễn (USA).
21. Evaldo Rodrigues Goncalves Cardosc (Brazil).
22. Michal Silhavy (Czech).
23. Rodrigo Aparecido Toledo (Brazil).
24. Marcelo Barbieri (Brazil).
25. Benjamin Mawusi Dzigba (Ghana).
26. David Edem Yao Bansah (Ghana - on trial).
27. Novero Jeremy (France - on trial).
28. Ngoumou Manga Simon Zelateur (Cameroon - on trial).

Ninh Binh plan on new stadium

It looks like newly-promoted The Vissai Ninh Binh is showing its seriousness and ambition in developing their club. The Vissai Group has basically completed necessary formalities to begin construction of a sport complex in Ninh Binh Province. The building project is expected to get started in February 2010.

The sport complex will be composed of a 30,000-seat football stadium with roof, 4 minor fields for training and youth teams and other sport infrastructure for golf, tennis, water sports...
The total cost is estimated to be around USD 166 million.

Ho Chi Minh City Cup 2009 Results

Results
South Korea University Team v Turkmenistan 8-6
Vietnam v Singapore 2-2

Final standings
1. Singapore
2. South Korea University Team
3. Vietnam
4. Turkmenistan

It is clear that Vietnam will have to make some changes if they want to qualify for Asian Cup 2011. Vietnam must warn themselves that Syria and China are not like a university team from South Korea. Hopefully the return of key players and possibly some naturalized players will improve Vietnam's performances in the upcoming matches.

Huynh Kesley Alves favourite for Golden Boot

Brazilian-born Huynh Kesley Alves, who was naturalized early this year, is still staying on top among candidates for the Vietnam Golden Boot 2009 award. This is a dedicated award for Vietnamese players.

Leading candidates:

1. Huynh Kesley Alves (Binh Duong) - 57 points (17 goals)
2. Nguyen Vu Phong (Binh Duong) - 48 points (15 goals)
3. Le Cong Vinh (T&T Ha Noi) - 46 points (15 goals)
4. Hoang Dinh Tung (Thanh Hoa) - 39 points (12 goals)
5. Nguyen Quang Hai (Khanh Hoa) - 28 points (10 goals)
6. Nguyen Anh Duc (Binh Duong) - 27 points (8 goals)

Points are calculated from number of goals scored in particular competitions: FIFA official international competitions (4 points per goal), ACL and AFC Cup (4 points), V-League (3 points), First Division (2 points), National Cup (2 points), Super Cup (2 points) and Vietnam NT's friendly matches (1 point). The race for the award will continue until the end of 2009. The final results will be announced in January 2010.

VFF Cup 2009 is coming too

November 5th - 9th
My Dinh Stadium, Ha Noi

Teams: Vietnam U23, Thailand U23, Singapore U23 and China U23

Fixture:
October 5th:
Thailand U23 - China U23
Vietnam U23 - Singapore U23


October 7th:
Singapore U23 - Thailand U23
Vietnam U23 - China U23

October 9th:
Singapore U23 - China U23
Vietnam U23 - Thailand U23

BTV Cup 2009

November 20th - 29th
Go Dau Stadium, Binh Duong

Teams: Chongqing Lifan (China), MFK Petrzalka (Slovakia), Kampala City (Uganda), Duque De Caxias (Brazil) and 4 Vietnamese clubs: Becamex Binh Duong, SHB Da Nang, GDT Long An and XM Hai Phong.

BTV Cup is a pre-season friendly cup held annually in Binh Duong. Vietnamese clubs consider this competition as a great chance to test their new players and look for foreign players from invited teams as well. A lot of good players have come to V-League through this tournament.

Thai club in V-League

HAGL is a well-known club in Vietnam for its two V-League titles and its priority for Thai as well. A lot of Thai players did and are currently playing for the club from Pleiku City such as Dusit Chalermsan, Tawan Sripan, Chukiat Noorasung, Datsakorn Thonglao, Sakda Joemdee, Nirut Surasiang and the most notable is Kiatisuk Senamuang, who is considered a legend by fans. As well as players, Thai coaches are also preferred by HAGL's board as Somgamsak, Chatchai, Dusit and Kiatisuk were given coaching roles.

Recently HAGL's president has revealed that Kiatisuk Senamuang will come back to manage the team next season after his spell at Chonburi FC. At the moment Kiatisuk is still in Thailand. His mission is searching for talents from Thai Premier League and bring them to the Vietnamese team.

There are also a bunch of other links between HAGL and Thai football. Last season, it was rumored that HAGL were interested in striker Teerathep Winothai but they brought Mouhamad Moustapha from Thai club Muang Thong United instead. Mohamed Kone, Chonburi FC striker, is a former player of HAGL actually. Interestingly if HAGL sign more Thai players and have more foreign players naturalized next season, there will be a chance that they can field more Thai than Vietnamese in a match. It looks like HAGL will keep casting their eyes on Thai football and try to build their reputation there.

Next week, HAGL is flying to Phuket to go in for a friendly cup that features Thailand NT, Muang Thong United (Thailand) and Yadanarbon (Myanmar).

Vietnam lost again! No surprise!

Ho Chi Minh City Cup 2009:
Vietnam v South Korea University Team 0-2
Singapore v Turkmenistan 4-2

After witnessing Vietnam's victory against Turkmenistan two days ago, I must say I was not impressed at all. What Vietnamese players performed on the pitch seems to have some problems. Lack of teamwork, lack of creativity, players didn't adhere to tactic. I'm pretty sure if Turkmenistan had had more time to prepare for this match, they would have caused a lot more difficulties for Vietnam. Before today match vs South Korean team started, I did expect a win for the university team like what happened last year. Vietnam NT always face all kinds of problems when playing against a team with stronger, quicker and taller players. And this match was no exception. Vietnam NT likes to play quick passing and one touch but this kind of playing requires high level of understanding between players and tactical understanding as well. However, from what I saw, Vietnamese players were unable to show it. As a result, their attack got stuck while defense became vulnerable.

It's over for Binh Duong

AFC Cup 2009 Semi-finals Results:
Al Karamah v Binh Duong 3-0 (4-2)
South China v Kuwait SC 0-1 (1-3)

So Binh Duong's unbeaten run of 9 games in AFC Cup has come to an end. Although being eliminated, they are still well-deserved all praise for playing with their utmost. For failing to get to the final, Binh Duong will not have a chance for ACL play-off next year. However, I think AFC Cup 2010 title would be a more suitable target for them.

If Morrati bought AC Milan...

Sorry, we're talking about the case of The Cong FC and ACB Ha Noi herein. Serie A and V-League, certainly there's no comparison. However, the rivalry between two Ha Noi's clubs that share the same stadium could rank alongside what between Internazionale and AC Milan.

The Cong is the oldest and most successful club in Vietnam football's history. The team used to be under the control of Ministry of National Defense (MND) and indeed has become an icon of military force in term of sport. Since Vietnamese football became professional, the rise of some new cash-rich clubs put The Cong's dominance to an end. In 2004, The Cong was relegated from V-League. As a change was required, MND allowed its Viettel Telecom, one of biggest Vietnamese telecommunication company, to take control of the club. However, the name "The Cong" had to be retained as demand from MND, which still play a top role in management. After taking control, Viettel showed no hesitation in investing in personnel and infrastructure. They also sent a youth squad to Europe for long-term plan. In 2007, The Cong came back to Vietnamese top league with a bright future lying ahead.

V-League 2009 saw The Cong reach its climax of ambition as Viettel made a record investment of USD 4,200,000. Despite having a quality squad and that much expectation, The Cong only managed to do just enough to avoid relegation. Both MND and Viettel were extremely disappointed and they have come to a shocking decision. In September 2009, MND made an announcement that "The Cong", the most long-standing name of Vietnamese football, would be no more attached to the V-League side and Viettel would take full control of the club. Fans were deeply upset and protested against the decision but it was futile. Viettel changed its club name to Viettel FC and it was believed that the board had lost its interest in football and were planning on selling the club. And what fans were afraid was coming true.

After failing to reach an agreement with Ho Chi Minh City FC on a takeover, Viettel was said to be in talk with Nguyen Duc Kien, president of ACB Ha Noi. The worst thing is that ACB Ha Noi (formerly and more commonly known as Ha Noi Police) is The Cong's biggest rival. ACB Ha Noi was relegated last season and Kien may find this takeover the shortest way to bring his club back to V-League. ACB Ha Noi is no stranger to this kind of promotion since they did it once some years ago. A merge could be on the verge as VFF showed its willingness to see it go on.

This is what happens in Vietnamese football today: One club can buy a promotion slot with money and a name can be erased or changed so easily. No one cares about fans. A The Cong's fan may suffer two worst shocks while confusion is what an ACB Ha Noi's fan (like me) feels. No more derby.

Binh Duong to make history ?

Binh Duong won the first leg of their semi-final clash 2-1 at Go Dau. That means the Vietnamese side will go into Wednesday's game knowing a draw will be enough to see them through to the final of AFC Cup 2009.

However, coach Mai Duc Chung is fully aware the size of the task his side face against Al Karamah, who have yet to lose at home in this year's competition, after failing to take advantage of their dominance in the first meeting.

"The second leg is always harder than the first match because it is decisive," he said.

"It is also important because the result of the first match is close, although we could have had a better result."

"I hope that we will be lucky on Wednesday as Al Karamah were lucky in the first leg," he added.

"We know that Al Karamah will have a good advantage and they are hard to beat at home."

Duc Chung, though, is confident his Binh Duong players can rise to the occasion.

"We are accustomed to playing big games and we must play with plenty of concentration," he stressed.

"Al Karamah are under big pressure while our players are eager to get a good result to qualify for the final."

Al Karamah coach Mohamad Kwid has called on his players to take advantage of last week's lucky escape in Vietnam and qualify for the final of the AFC Cup.

Kwid described the first-leg match as one of their worst performances of the season.

The 53-year-old feels his side are fortunate to still be in the tie but now expects them to prove more clinical in front of goal in the return at Khaled Ibn Al Waleed Stadium.

"We played one of our worst games in the first leg in Vietnam but the consolation is that we got a good result despite the defeat and the goal that we scored will help us a lot," said Kwid.

"I was not satisfied with the attacking display and we must be more efficient in front of goal. At the same time we must be careful because if they score a goal it will be costly for us and the players will be under pressure.

"A goal will be enough for us to qualify for the final but achieving this is not easy," he added.

"Binh Duong produced a good performance in the first leg and they have quality players like South African striker Philani."

source: the-afc.com

------------------------------------------------
It's gonna be a tense match for Binh Duong because clubs from West Asia often play a lot better at home. If Binh Duong manage to beat Al Karamah, they will be the first club of Southeast Asia (or East Asia in case South China lose) to play a final of AFC Cup.

Today Results

HCMC Cup 2009:
Singapore v South Korea Student Team 1-0
Vietnam v Turkmenistan 1-0

Friendly
Vietnam U-23 v Chunnam Dragons 1-2
After this friendly match, Henrique Calisto and 5 Vietnam U-23 players will fly to Ho Chi Minh City to join Vietnam NT 's squad.

Ho Chi Minh City Cup 2009

While Vietnam U-23 play a friendly match with Chunnam Dragons in Ha Noi, Vietnam NT start its HCMC Cup 2009 with the first match against Turkmenistan NT.

Today fixtures : October 20th

Singapore v South Korea Student Team
1600hrs (GMT+7)

Vietnam v Turkmenistan
1800hrs (GMT+7)

Where to watch online:
VTC (select VTV2 channel from list)
VNPIXEL
XEM24H

Chunnam Dragons prepare for Vietnam U-23 match

The match is going to be played at My Dinh on October 20th.
(Source: vtc.com.vn)

VFF said NO to naturalized players

In a recent interview, Calisto said VFF prevented him from calling up naturalized players for Vietnam national team. He was not satisfied about this, of course. VFF are trying to interfere in his job without making any public statement. This caused some controversy among press and fans.

VFF also planned on promulgating a new rule that limits the number of naturalized players in a club. As this number is rising by every season, some Vietnamese clubs now can field more than 5 foreign players in a match. This is becoming a new problem of V-League. Now let's take a look at these naturalized players and their club:

1. Doan Van Sakda (Thailand - HAGL)
2. Doan Van Nirut (Thailand - HAGL)
3. Phan Van Santos (Brazil - GDT Long An)
4. Huynh Kesley Alves (Brazil - Binh Duong)
5. Nguyen Rogerio (Brazil - SHB Da Nang)
6. Dinh Hoang La (Ukraine - Ninh Binh)
7. Dinh Hoang Max (Nigeria - Ninh Binh)
8. Tran Le Martin (Uganda - Hoa Phat)
9. Phan Le Isaac (Uganda - Hoa Phat)

Awaiting paperwork: Benjamin Dzigba (Ghana - HAGL), Lee Nguyen (USA - HAGL), Antonio Carlos (Brazil - GDT Long An), Almeida (Brazil - SHB Da Nang), Isaawa (Thailand - GDT Long An), Jucelio (Brazil - Ninh Binh), Elenildo de Jesus (Brazil - Hai Phong), Hassan Sesay (Sierra Leone - ACB Ha Noi), Valdinei (Brazil - T&T), Kizito Lawrence (Uganda - T&T).

High possibility: Tshamala Kaganga(DR Congo - GDT Long An), Marcelo (Brazil - HAGL), Toledo (Brazil - HAGL), Philani (South Africa - Binh Duong), Abbey (Ghana - Viettel FC), Amaobi Honest (Nigeria - Nam Dinh).

V-League 2009 Transfer: Success or not ?

V-League is now a game of money where most clubs are supported by strong financial backing. Money gives them the power to bring best players to their team (even by unreasonable price) . Do we still remember what happened last season? Newly-promoted T&T Ha Noi broke the transfer record when taking Le Cong Vinh from SLNA for USD 400,000. Meanwhile, HAGL caused a big story when ex-PSV player Lee Nguyen signed a 3-year deal with them. The Cong bought 3 Brazilian players described as "great signings". And the most shocking transfer was undoubtedly ex-Betis Denilson to XM Hai Phong. Then rumor about Pavel Nedved, Mohamed Kallon, Christian Vieri, Guti ... made Vietnamese fans crazy.

Let's look back at these signings' performance in V-League 2009. Le Cong Vinh struggled while Lee Nguyen found it harder than he had thought to adapt to Vietnamese football. Big name Denilson played 45 mins, scored a goal and leave. The Cong's great signings turn out to be amateurs. Although Cong Vinh and Lee Nguyen have get back to their form later in the season, fans and press still voice their criticism.

Now look at most surprising performers last season and find out who they are:

1. Leandro da Luz (XM Hai Phong): Hai Phong's captain is truly a rare talent. He was in the squad of Olympic Brazil some years ago. He did show a lot of promise but failed to fulfill his potential. Joining Hai Phong from Matsubara in 2008, he was not even selected in the first team. In 2009, he boomed and outshined all other stars. Undoubtedly, Leandro is now the best player in V-League.
2. Gaston Merlo (SHB Da Nang): Merlo's outlook make people think he is a big but clumsy striker. However, the Argentine striker turns out to be a new Ibrahimovic of Da Nang. He came to Da Nang in 2009 without much expectation but his top-scorer award with 15 goals last season make a lot of people surprised.
3. Lazaro (Military Zone 4): An amateur before coming to Vietnam. All clubs said no to him. Newly-promoted Military Zone 4 was not a well-off team so they signed him as last choice. And he showed V-League who he was with 14 goals last season. Now a lot of big clubs want him.
4. Timothy Anjembe (Dong Thap): A rejected-everywhere player like Lazaro but this 20-year-old striker was the one who ruined Lee Nguyen's debut with his hattrick against HAGL. He is showing a lot of potential and is currently a hot name in transfer market.

At the moment, it looks like Vietnamese clubs are trying to bring new signings in a more quiet way because they know that fans want real quality players not big talk.

Vietnamese striker scores first goal in Portugal

Le Cong Vinh, who is the first Vietnamese player to play in an European top league, made the first goal for Leixoes in the 43^rd minute of their Casa Pia match on October 18, contributing to Leixoes’ 2-1 victory.

This is Vinh’s second match at the Portuguese Football Championship 2009 as the key Leixoes player. He played in a pair with Leixoes’ major striker Pouga, who returned after recovering from an injury.

This is the first official goal Vinh has scored for Leixoes after nearly two months in Portugal.

Cong Vinh left the match in the 60^th minute to make room for Jean Sony. In the 62^nd minute, Leixoes made a second goal. One minute later, Casa Pia earned its only goal.

Coach Mota was not happy, saying that many players didn’t perform well, but he had commented positively on Vinh.

“Cong Vinh had a good match,” the coach stated. “He made a goal and moved actively. I’m satisfied with him. He needs to save his strength for other matches, so I withdrew him early.”

Le Cong Vinh was very happy. He said: “I’ve tried my best. I’m very happy to play for Leixoes. This goal was very special for me, similar to my goal at the AFF Cup. This is the second memorable moment in my career, after the goal I made at the final match of AFF Cup 2008.”

Vinh said that he must try further to gain a firm foothold in the Leixoes club.

A bit about Vietnamese football

The sport of football in the country of Vietnam is run by the Vietnam Football Federation. The federation administers the Vietnam national football team, as well as the V-League.

Football is unarguably the main and most supported sport in Vietnam. Its annual V-League competition has taken place since 1980 till now (except in 1988 and 1999).

When Vietnam was split into North Vietnam and South Vietnam, two national teams existed; the North Vietnamese team was not very active, playing almost exclusively other Communist countries between 1956 and 1966 whilst the South Vietnamese team took part in the first two Asian Cups finals, finishing fourth both times.

After Vietnam was united in 1975, Vietnamese football suffered a long time of stagnation. In 1991, Vietnam national football team played its first international match. The match ended up as a 2-2 draw between Vietnam and the host Philippines. Vietnamese football has made a lot of improvement since then. Both Vietnam national team and V-League are now one of the best in ASEAN region. In 2008, Vietnam NT was crowned the champions of AFF Cup, which was undoubtedly the greatest achievement of Vietnamese football.