The 1.96m goalkeeper rejected Japanese citizenship to join the Vietnamese national team.

Nguyen Ba Nhật Ka refused Japanese citizenship to keep his chance to play for Vietnam's U19 team, showing his passion for contributing to his country's football.

The decision of young goalkeeper Nguyen Ba Nhật Ka has attracted significant attention as he rejected the opportunity to obtain Japanese citizenship in order to pursue his dream of representing Vietnam's U19 team. This is considered a pivotal choice in the career of the player born in 2009.

Nhật Ka is currently studying and competing at Ryutsu Keizai University, a quality football training environment in Japan. With a notable height of 1.96m and a well-trained foundation, this goalkeeper quickly made an impression in youth competitions, especially in the highly competitive U18 system.

Living in Japan since 2015, Nhật Ka had all the conditions to develop and even the opportunity to acquire citizenship for a smoother professional football path. However, following guidance from his school, he made a firm decision.

Nhật Ka's reason is very clear: if he acquired Japanese citizenship, he would no longer have the opportunity to represent Vietnamese national teams. Therefore, the young goalkeeper chose to retain his Vietnamese citizenship, placing his aspiration to contribute to his homeland's football above immediate advantages.

In reality, Nhật Ka is not an unfamiliar name to youth national teams. He was previously called up to train with Vietnam's U20 team during a training camp in Japan in 2024 and received positive evaluations from the coaching staff, showing clear potential for development.

The continued inclusion in this training camp list indicates that Nhật Ka is part of Vietnam's youth football long-term plan. The decision to reject Japanese citizenship is not only a personal choice but also demonstrates a strong desire to contribute and establish himself in the national team jersey in the future.