Vietnam calls up naturalized Brazilian striker to national team

Rafaelson, whose Vietnamese name is Nguyen Xuan Son, became a Vietnamese citizen in September. He is the first naturalized player to be called up to the national team since 2009, following in the footsteps of Phan Van Santos, Huynh Kesley Alves, Dinh Hoang Max and Dinh Hoang La.

This marks a significant addition to the squad, with Rafaelson's proven ability to the team after five successful seasons in the V. League with Nam Dinh FC, SHB Da Nang and Binh Dinh FC. He has scored 75 goals in 100 matches across the V. League, National Cup and Super Cup.

The 27-year-old striker holds the record for the most goals scored in a season of V. League, having netted 31 times during the 2023-2024 season. This performance surpassed the previous record of 25 goals set by Le Huynh Duc in 1996. Despite suffering an injury this season, Rafaelson still managed to score seven goals in six matches, joining Nguyen Tien Linh (Becamex Binh Duong) and Leonardo Artur (Cong An Ha Noi) among the league's top scorers.

Under FIFA's regulations, Rafaelson qualifies to play for Vietnam after meeting the requirement of living in the country for at least five years after the age of 10. The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) provided the necessary papers and FIFA confirmed that Rafaelson will reach the required five-year mark on Dec. 20, 2024. After this date, he will be eligible to represent the Vietnam national team.

The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) has also confirmed that Rafaelson is eligible to participate in the 2024 AFF Cup. However, he will be unavailable for the first three group-stage matches against Laos (Dec. 9), Indonesia (Dec. 15), and the Philippines (Dec. 18). Rafaelson is expected to make his debut in the final group-stage match against Myanmar on Dec. 21.

On Dec. 6, coach Kim will reduce the squad from 33 to 26 players, in accordance with tournament regulations, before the team travel to Laos to prepare for the opening match. Prior to each match, the head coach will register 23 players for competition.

The AFF Cup will be renamed the ASEAN Cup from this year, running from Dec. 8, 2024, to Jan. 5, 2025. The 10 participating teams will be divided into two groups, playing two home and two away matches. The top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-place teams, will advance to the semifinals. From this stage, matches will be played over two legs, but away goals rule will not be applied.