apanese clubs target Vietnamese striker, says journalist
A Japanese football reporter who covered an Olympic qualifier in Vietnam says many Japanese clubs are interested in Vietnam’s top striker Le Cong Vinh and willing to pay him a monthly salary of US$10,000.
Takashi Morimoto, who works for the Weekly Soccer Digest, has met Vinh and another striker Nguyen Thanh Bình to sound them out for a move to Japan.
He said after the first leg of the 2008 Olympics football qualifying round against Vietnam, Japanese scouts were impressed by players like Binh, Vo Duy Nam, Mai Tien Thanh, and, especially, Vinh, who is thought to be Vietnam’s best footballer now.
Many clubs had acquired tapes of Vietnam’s Asian Cup and Olympics games this year to take a closer look at Vinh, Morimoto revealed.
If Vinh played in Japan, he could get $8,000-10,000 a month against the $700 he now gets from his club TCDK-SLNA, he said.
“The salary… is not good enough for Vietnam’s best striker,” he added.
Vinh is thrilled with the idea of playing in Japan. He said he wanted to test his skills in one of Asia’s top leagues.
But since he was still under contract with the Nghe An province-based club, anyone interested in him had to contact TCDK-SLNA, he said.
The club’s director, Ho Van Chiem, told Thanh Nien it was an honor for the club too if one of its players played in Japan.
Although the club had not put Vinh on the transfer list, it would consider an offer if a major Asian club made a bid for him, he added.
Vinh, 22, has twice been named Vietnam’s Player of the Year – in 2004 and 2006.
He has just been nominated for the Asian Football Confederation’s 2007 Player of the Year along with teammate Nguyen Anh Duc.
http://www.thanhniennews.com/sports/?catid=5&newsid=31986
(Jun Misugi de Nippon Ganbare)
En gros pour les non anglophones, ça dit que Le Cong Vinh est suivi par un paquet de clubs de J-League (Japon), et que aussi étrange que sa puisse parraitre, en étant sans doute le meilleur joueur de son pays, il ne touche que 700 euros par mois.
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