Vietnamese national team's naturalized player faces opportunity to become a legend

Hoang Hen could become the second naturalized player in Vietnamese football history to become the V-League top scorer.

Do Hoang Hen is emerging as one of the most notable figures in V.League 2025/26, consistently maintaining impressive scoring form while wearing the Hanoi FC jersey. This naturalized forward recently scored a brace against Becamex TP.HCM, further affirming his crucial role in the Capital team's attack during the decisive phase of the season.

After 13 appearances, Hoang Hen has recorded 9 goals and 4 assists. On average, he directly contributes to at least one goal for Hanoi FC in every match. According to Sofascore statistics, this striker achieves an efficiency of 111 minutes per goal-scoring action, a remarkable figure for a player who started the season much later than many other competitors.

On a personal level, Hoang Hen is also accelerating strongly in the race for the Top Scorer title. He currently trails Alan Grafite – the leading scorer this season – by only 5 goals. This gap is not too large considering his current form, especially as Hoang Hen demonstrates a high potential for explosive performance during the final stretch.

If he can overtake and win the Top Scorer title, Hoang Hen will enter history as the second naturalized player to achieve this after Hoang Vu Samson. In 2014, while playing for Hanoi and having acquired Vietnamese citizenship, Samson finished the season with 23 goals to lead the scoring chart. Later, Merlo in 2016 and Xuan Son in 2024 also won the same title, but they had not yet become Vietnamese citizens at that time.

The reason for Hoang Hen's slow start was that he had to wait for the completion of his Vietnamese citizenship procedures before officially playing. However, the waiting period did not diminish this forward's sharpness. Conversely, he has been playing increasingly well, particularly in recent stages, continuously scoring and becoming the primary pillar in Hanoi FC's attack.

In just the last 5 matches, Hoang Hen has scored 5 goals and provided 2 assists for teammates to score. This consistency plays a crucial role in helping the purple-clad team maintain its 4th position on the standings, while being only 1 point away from the Top 3. With 7 more rounds remaining before the season concludes, Hanoi FC has a full opportunity to make a strong breakthrough in the championship race.

Hoang Hen shines with a 111 minutes/goal efficiency, making waves in V.League

Hoang Hen shines, Hanoi defeats Becamex TP.HCM in a 6-goal match