The contrasting 'fate' of Vietnamese diaspora players in V-League

In recent two years, thanks to the open policies of VFF and VPF, the number of Vietnamese diaspora players appearing in V-League has grown strongly, and many have been called up to national teams, such as Filip Nguyễn, Cao Quang Vinh in the Vietnam national team or Viktor Lê in the Vietnam U23 team. That's not even mentioning Vietnamese diaspora players trialing with the Vietnam U19 team.

Not far away, just in the recent March FIFA Days training camp, fans witnessed up to 8 Vietnamese diaspora players gathering in the Vietnam national team, Vietnam U23, and Vietnam U19, a number considered record-breaking compared to past national team camps.

However, looking at the V-League level, specifically in round 17 of LPBank V-League 2025/26 held last weekend, the picture of Vietnamese diaspora players in the national championship also has many relatively contrasting shades.

Only a few like Nguyễn Filip, Adou Legley Minh, Cao Pendant Quang Vinh (CAHN) or Kyle Colonna (Thể Công Viettel) or Patrik Lê Giang, Ngô Đăng Khoa, Williams Lee Oliver Grant (CATP.HCM) and of course Đặng Văn Lâm (Ninh Bình) still affirm their position and play important roles at their host clubs.

Meanwhile, many other names, despite once being highly expected with impressive resumes before returning to Vietnam, have not yet established a clear mark, such as Trần Thành Trung (Ninh Bình), or more disappointingly, have been removed from the registered player list, like the pair of Vietnamese diaspora players Pierre Lamothe, Nguyễn Vadim of SHB Đà Nẵng, Brandon Ly of CAHN, or Damian An of Thể Công Viettel.

These are all clubs famous for willingly giving opportunities to young players, so the fact that Pierre Lamothe, Nguyễn Vadim, Brandon Ly, or Damian An are not valued likely stems purely from professional reasons, or in other words, their performance in training did not convince the head coach to give them playing opportunities.

Additionally, there are also cases of some other Vietnamese diaspora players who once demonstrated their ability in V-League or the Vietnam U23 team, but are now seriously declining in form and no longer being pillars at their host clubs.

That's the story of Kevin Phạm Ba, the French-Vietnamese defender who was once the number one right-back for Nam Định during the club's V-League championship campaign, but now is only a secondary choice at the Thiên Trường stadium host team, whether under coach Mauro Jeronimo or coach Vũ Hồng Việt.

Similarly, in Hà Tĩnh, Viktor Lê was once a bright spot here thanks to his energetic playing style and scoring knack, but after returning from SEA Games 33 and the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, this midfielder seems no longer himself, and in the recent Hà Tĩnh-Nam Định match, Viktor Lê was substituted midway through the second half while the host team was trailing and desperately needed an equalizer.

Nevertheless, Kevin Phạm Ba, Viktor Lê, or Ryan Hà (HAGL) or Camilo Minh Vasconcelos (Hải Phòng) appear still lucky, because although they are no longer or are not pillars at their host clubs, at least they still regularly start or come on as substitutes, while many Vietnamese diaspora players either are not registered to play or even have to drop to play in the First Division to seek playing opportunities.

This shows the harshness of V-League and truly is a not-easy challenge if Vietnamese diaspora players want to find a solid footing here.