After a brief holiday here in Vietnam, Le Cong Vinh will have a training session with T&T club in Hanoi for the V-League 2010 season. DTiNews had a talk with the striker about his time playing for Portuguese club Leixoes recently.

Your time at Leixoes club is over now, what do you think about the time you spent playing for this club in Portugal?

It wasn't quite what I expected, however, I feel satisfied with my efforts and what I have accomplished during the past 4 months there. The Portuguese matches are highly competive.

Cong Vinh gets more experience from matches for Leixoes - photo: Bach Nhat

When I moved to Portugal, I felt a lot of pressure but I was able to overcome those obstacles and now that I've returned to Vietnam, I feel very comfortable. At times, I was faced with a lot of difficulties in Portugal, I just tried my best to assert myself at Leixoes club in some football matches.

What did you gain and/or lose from this experience?

It’s too difficult to specify exactly what I achieved and lost when moving to Portugal, however, one thing is for sure, and that is what I learned will allow me to support and devote more to T&T Hanoi club and the Vietnam team.

To explore opportunities to play for clubs in Europe, what factors do Vietnamese players need to consider?
First of all, they need to have a good and stable mentality to confront the pressures and difficulties they will face. Playing for European clubs is quite different in many ways, so it takes players a relatively long period of time to adapt to a coach’s intentions. Moreover, differences in language, culture and a disadvantage in physical strength are quite big barriers to our players.

In your opinion, how many Vietnamese players can afford to make a trial run in European leagues?

Cong Vinh hopes he will be able to contribute more to T&T Hanoi club and the Vietnamese team

I think many Vietnamese players can compete in European leagues, however, they need to consider many factors in order to meet the requirements. They must make decisions and be able to accept unexpected risks. During the time when I was in Portugal, I was met a lot of difficulties and I knew that I need to work hard to overcome them.

When playing in the other countries, the line between success and failure is quite fine and if players are successful, they will achieve many things.

As the first Vietnamese footballer to play for a European club, do you consider yourself to be a pioneer?

I don’t think I am the pioneer for Vietnamese footballers who want to play in European clubs. The most important thing for me is that I had a chance to test my abilities and prove myself as well as gain experience from playing for Leixoes.
My experience can help other Vietnamese footballers when they receive offers from European clubs.

Thank you so much for sharing your time with us. We wish you all the best in the match with T&T Hanoi club and the national team!