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Thứ ba, 05/11/2024

The first Vietnam-origin player to play in Thailand  national team

Thứ năm, 23/04/2020 12:00 (GMT+7)
Nick Cassidy
BTV Thể thao

In fact, Tristian Do is the second Vietnamese player in history to play for the Thailand national team.

Tristian Do is a special player at Thai football. With his nationality, he can compete for three different national teams, Vietnam, Thailand and France. After a period of thinking, he refused to return to Vietnam to wear a green shirt of War Elephants. In 2015, he officially had the first match of in Thailand NT.

However, Tristian Do was not the first Vietnamese player to play for the Thai team. That position belongs to a former player whose name is not related to Vietnamese - Natipong Sritong-in.

Natipong Sritong-in has a Vietnamese grandmother but was born and raised in Thailand. Although he had a short career in the national team (1994 - 1997), Natipong was considered a "nightmare" for all Southeast Asian defenses at that time. He scored 25 goals in just 55 matches. At the 1996 Tiger Cup (now the AFF Cup), this Vietnam-origin player also won the title of top scorer.

Natipong Sritong-in was one of the best strikers in Thai history.
Natipong Sritong-in was one of the best strikers in Thai history.

On the rise of his career, Natipong unexpectedly retired from the Thai national team in 1998. The reason was because of his strong passion for golf. Even at SEA Games 26th, he also attended as a professional golfer of the Thai team when he was 39 years old.

In 2016, Natipong decided to return to the Thai Football Federation (FAT) to undertake work related to nutrition and fitness. In addition, he has also led the Thai women's team and the Thai U19 women's team in his coaching career.

The influence of Natipong Sritong-in not only covers Thailand but has spread to many other countries in the region. In Vietnam, former U23 Vietnam player was named Lam Ti Phong because of his father’s love for the Thai player.

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