In the wake of Vietnam's AFF Cup failure and the surprising success of Philippines national team with a lot of overseas Filipino talents, people here are actively seeking for players of Vietnamese descent around the world. And the latest name they found is Yohan Cabaye, who is playing for Lille OSC in the Ligue 1. He turns out to have a Vietnamese grandmother!In a interview with Hourrafoot, when asked:
Yohan, comme Ludovic Obraniak, quelle autre nationalité pourrais-tu demander si Laurent Blanc ne te sélectionne pas en équipe de France après la Coupe du Monde ?
Ah bon, c’est fait, c’est Laurent Blanc ? Je pourrais jouer pour le Viêt-Nam, ma grand-mère est vietnamienne ! Mais ça fait un peu loin.
I can't read French but it can be translated as something like this:
Yohan, as Ludovic Obraniak (a French player who chose to play for Poland), what other nationality would you have if Laurent Blanc doesn't select you for France national team after the World Cup?
Oh, it's done, Laurent Blanc? I could play for Vietnam, my grandmother is Vietnamese! But it's a bit far.
Yes, it's an interesting story there. However, he has made his debut for France national team in August 2010 and will not be available for Vietnam any more. There are a lot of young Vietnamese players playing in France, Germany and Czech Republic. Just hope they will become good ones and play for Vietnam someday.
grandmother???I think its very far already,.,.,.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's far but not the problem. Anyone who can prove his Vietnamese origin can get Vietnamese nationality. But I guess Yohan would never think about it!
ReplyDeleteI believe Lee Nguyen is also trying to get vietnamese citizenship.
ReplyDeleteHi Erick,
ReplyDeleteYohan Cabaye will never play for Vietnam but his younger brother Geoffrey could:
* http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/sport/football/le-frere-de-yohan-cabaye-selectionne-par-le-vietnam_1093029.html (French)
* http://thethaovanhoa.vn/143N20120313154841734T128/cabaye-se-khoac-ao-dt-viet-nam.htm (VN)
Yohan Cabaye has recent Vietnamese ancestry, his grandmother. Too late for him to play for Vietnman now, Geoffrey maybe.
ReplyDeleteIf anybody was curious about the Cabaye brothers' grandmother, here is a video with some info http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nckzX5ktGfY
ReplyDeleteI thought Yohan was black until I saw his face on Fifa. I thought that he was the trio of amazing black players along side Demba Ba and Cisse
ReplyDelete