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By Duc Dong  March 24, 2025 | 06:51 pm PT
Laos expect the addition of overseas players to improve the team's performance against Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers on Tuesday.
Laos' national football team trained at Go Dau Stadium in Binh Duong Province in southern Vietnam on Monday night to prepare for their opening match against Vietnam in Group F of the final round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
Compared to the 2024 ASEAN Cup, Laos have made key improvements to their squad by adding three overseas Laotian players.
Head coach Ha Hyeok-jun (R) said Laos will do their best to prevent Vietnam from securing a dominant win.
He values the addition of overseas Laotian players and believes local talent should compete in stronger leagues in South Korea, Thailand, or Vietnam to enhance the national team's overall strength.
Most Laos players are young and have a similar build.
Before arriving in Vietnam, the team played a friendly match against Sri Lanka but lost 1-2.
With the inclusion of the three overseas Laotian players, Laos hopes to perform better than in their 1-4 loss to Vietnam at last year's ASEAN Cup.
One of the new additions is Victor Ngovinassack (pictured), a right-back born in 2001 who currently plays for Is-Selongey's reserve team in France's sixth division.
Another is Theo Klein, who plays for the University of Omaha Mavericks in the U.S. Born in 2001, the 1.8-meter-tall player can play as either an attacking midfielder or left forward.
The most highly rated of the trio is Roman Angot, a 1.84-meter midfielder playing for Germany’s SV Linx. He joined the club from Offenburger FV in January 2025 and has scored four goals and recorded two assists in 19 matches this season.
SV Linx is currently second in the standings with 43 points after 20 rounds, trailing leader FC Denzlingen by two points.
Another notable player is Damoth Thongkhamsavath, a Vietnamese-Laotian midfielder who recently joined Thanh Hoa FC in Vietnam. He played a key role in Ezra FC’s 2024-2025 Lao League 1 title win, scoring seven goals and assisting four. His performance earned him the league’s best player award.
Bounphachan Bounkong (R), a striker for Cambodia's Svay Rieng FC, is another overseas-based player.
In the 2024-2025 season, the 2000-born forward scored 12 goals and recorded seven assists in 31 matches. He also scored Laos' only goal in their 1-4 loss to Vietnam at the 2024 ASEAN Cup.
Vietnam hold a dominant record against Laos, winning 13 of their 14 encounters and drawing the other one. Laos' last five defeats in the ASEAN Cup group stage came with scores of 0-3 (2014, 2018), 0-2 (2020), 0-6 (2022), and 0-4 (2024).
The Asian Cup qualifier between Vietnam and Laos will start at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday and will be reported live on VnExpress International.
