Vietnamese Football: Time to Stop Fooling Ourselves

I have sat in my studio in Guangzhou for 37 years, witnessing countless generations of players, countless football dynasties rise and fall. But one thing haunts me most: Vietnamese football keeps deceiving itself with victories over small teams, then waking up from its dream against real opponents. No one in Moscow has ever heard anyone speak as bluntly as I do, so they call it prophecy. Today, I will speak bluntly to you. When I was a young reporter in Madrid in 2026, I learned a lesson that remains valuable to this day: football does not forgive complacency. The Spanish thought they were the best in the world after winning Euro 2026, then endured 44 years of drought before being reborn. Vietnamese football is repeating that exact cycle, only at a faster pace. Look at the facts. In the last three SEA Games, we set gold as our target but only won once in 2026. At the 2026 AFF Cup, we were eliminated in the semifinals by Thailand – the team we once declared 'past its prime'. At the 2026 Asian Cup, we left the tournament with three straight losses, scoring 4 goals and conceding 8. These numbers do not lie. But the problem is not the results. The problem is how we explain the results. Every time we lose, we blame the referee, the weather, the schedule. Every time we beat a weaker team, we celebrate as if we had won the World Cup. This is the 'offside trap' in our own reasoning: we set up a false belief that we are progressing, then suddenly wake up when faced with reality. Better to be a lone madman in the studio than to speak from someone else's script. And I will not follow any script. I will tell the truth: Vietnamese football is falling behind its own level of 5 years ago, and if we do not change fundamentally, we will fall even further behind. Look at the U23 generation that made history in Changzhou in 2026. Where were they in 2026? Some retired early due to injuries, others lost form because they did not play regularly at club level. Cong Phuong, once expected to become an Asian star, went through 5 clubs in 6 years without finding stability anywhere. This is not his fault. This is the fault of a training system that produces players who only know how to play for the national team but do not know how to develop at club level. I have watched hundreds of Vietnamese football matches in my career, and I can tell you one thing for certain: we do not lack talent. We lack system. Youth academies in Vietnam still operate like a 'lottery ticket': find a few geniuses, pour money into them, then hope they will carry the whole team. When they get injured or lose form, the whole system collapses. Compare this to how Thailand builds its football. They do not just develop one generation; they build a sustainable foundation with competitive youth leagues, structured academies, and a domestic league strong enough to nurture talent. The result? Thailand won the 2026 and 2026 AFF Cups, and they have a promising young generation ready to take over. When did German football die? When they believed they would win just because they always won. Vietnamese football is dying in a similar way: we believe we will progress just because we once had moments of glory. But football does not operate on that logic. Football operates on the logic of sustained investment, of patience, and of daring to face our own mistakes. During the pandemic, online gatherings taught me that football lives in every conversation. But conversation cannot replace action. We can sit here and discuss tactics, players, referees, but if we do not have a concrete plan to improve the youth training system, to raise the quality of the domestic league, and to create a truly competitive environment, then all discussions are meaningless. Look at the transfer market. Vietnamese players are being valued higher than their actual worth, simply because domestic clubs are bidding against each other for short-term goals. The transfer market is a mirror: the rich see fame, the wise see the trap. We are falling into that trap by overpaying for players who have not proven their value at the continental level. Let me tell you about an evening in November 2026, when I left Guangzhou Television after 15 years to start the 'Offside Trap' podcast. In the very first episode, I made a bold statement: 'The Guangzhou Evergrande dynasty is over.' At that time, Evergrande had just been eliminated by Shanghai SIPG in the AFC Champions League semifinals with a 5-5 aggregate draw but fell on penalties 4-5. I pointed out that in the last 6 head-to-head matches, Evergrande lost 4, averaging only 48% possession against SIPG. Internet users called me a 'traitor', but I enjoyed being opposed. By November, Evergrande officially lost the title after 7 consecutive years – my view became 'prophecy'. I tell this story not to show that I was right. I tell it to illustrate a principle: when a great team begins to decline, it is often because they stop listening to dissenting voices. They surround themselves with praise, optimistic reports, and plans that are never implemented. Evergrande did that. And Vietnamese football is doing the same. Look at our V-League. Every season, we witness clubs spending heavily to buy a few foreign players, but the quality of the league does not improve significantly. Teams still play football lacking ideas, relying too much on physicality and long balls. If we want Vietnamese players to improve, we need a league with higher professional quality, where they must think, create, and face diverse tactical challenges. I once witnessed how Japanese football transformed from the 1990s. They did not just invest in players; they invested in the entire ecosystem: from physical education teachers in schools, to properly trained coaches, to structured youth leagues. The result is that they have become an Asian football powerhouse, with players competing in top European leagues. And what about us? We are still debating whether to let young players go abroad, while Thailand and Japan have been doing this for years. We are still struggling with basic questions of football governance, while other countries have built sustainable development models. I am not saying Vietnamese football has no future. I am saying that future will only come when we stop deceiving ourselves. When Evergrande collapsed, I was not sad because they lost money. I was sad because they forgot how to play. Vietnamese football is forgetting how to play – how to play smart, organized, tactically deep football. In the coming years, I predict that if we do not change, Vietnamese football will drop to 5th or 6th place in Southeast Asia, behind Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and possibly the Philippines. This is not a curse, but a warning. I could be wrong, and I am ready to admit it if that happens. But I believe that looking at current data, the probability of me being right is much higher. Look at our current young generation. They have talent, but they are being stifled by an environment that lacks high competition. They play in the V-League, where professional quality is limited, and they do not have opportunities to face stronger opponents at the continental level. When they join the national team, they are overwhelmed by the speed and intensity of international football. I remember an evening in Moscow in 2026, when I recorded a video right in the stands after Germany's shocking 0-1 loss to Mexico at Luzhniki: 'German football is dead, what they are playing is not football, but fear disguised as tactics.' The 3-minute video got 12 million views on Weibo within 24 hours. When Germany was eliminated in the group stage – the first time in 72 years – I was hailed as a master. But the truth is I overlooked the fact that Germany had an excellent young generation like Kimmich and Goretzka – I was carried away by the emotion of the match. I learned from that mistake that extreme statements right after a match can create appeal, but only data-driven analysis has lasting value. So today, I will not just talk about my feelings toward Vietnamese football. I will talk about numbers. In the past 5 years, the number of Vietnamese players playing abroad in European leagues is zero. Meanwhile, Thailand has 8 players in Europe, Indonesia has 12. Japan has more than 50 players in Europe, South Korea has more than 30. We cannot say we are progressing when these numbers do not change. Look at the quality of coaching education. How many coaches do we have with an AFC Pro license? Very few. Meanwhile, Thailand has dozens of well-trained coaches with the ability to analyze tactics and develop players scientifically. We cannot build a strong football foundation if we do not invest in people – not just players, but coaches, referees, and managers. I will say something that may upset many: we have focused too much on short-term results while forgetting to build a long-term foundation. Every time the national team wins an important match, we celebrate as if we have achieved something great. But those victories are just sparks in a dark picture, if we do not have a sustainable development plan. I have followed Vietnamese football for 37 years, and I can say that we are at an important crossroads. One path leads to stagnation, with superficial achievements and self-praise. The other path leads to real development, with sacrifices, difficulties, and fundamental changes. I hope we will choose the second path. But I am not optimistic. I have witnessed too many times we promise to change, then return to old habits. I have witnessed too many football development plans announced with great fanfare, then quietly disappear. I have witnessed too many talented generations of players wasted due to lack of development environment. So today, I will make a testable prediction: if Vietnamese football does not make fundamental changes within the next 3 years, we will drop to 5th place in Southeast Asia, and it will take at least 10 years to return to our current position. I could be wrong, and if I am wrong, I will publicly admit my mistake. But looking at current data, I believe the probability of me being right is very high. Vietnamese football, it is time to stop fooling ourselves.