The Ambassador of Vietnam to Portugal visited the Estádio do Dragão and met with FC Porto President André Villas-Boas, in the first official institutional meeting between the two parties. The meeting opened a dialogue on potential cooperation opportunities and brought the Club closer to a market of more than 100 million people, in line with FC Porto's international expansion strategy.

According to Nguyễn Mạnh Thắng, "the discussion was very interesting" and André Villas-Boas "showed willingness to welcome athletes from Vietnam", a country where "people are very interested" in football and "greatly appreciate Portuguese football".

Michele Montesi, FC Porto Chief Strategy Officer, also attended the meeting, highlighting the potential to strengthen relationships and develop strategic initiatives across Asia, contributing to the international visibility of the FC Porto brand. The Club executive also underlined the importance of deepening cooperation with a large country with a growing passion for football, creating room for new collaboration opportunities between FC Porto and Vietnam.

Michele Montesi, FC Porto Chief Strategy Officer

First contacts
"This was the first meeting between FC Porto's Board and the Ambassador of Vietnam to Portugal, an institutional meeting that also covered collaboration between the Club and the country, as well as the potential for a cooperation agreement that may be built between both parties."

Football as a universal language
"This is an important step, not only to strengthen our cooperation with Vietnam, but also to show that football can be a very relevant vehicle to connect different cultures, with sport as a foundation."

Dragon Force in Vietnam
"This is a topic that is being worked on and it can represent another opportunity aligned with the Club's new strategy, an international expansion strategy. Initiatives of this kind can be strong vehicles to reinforce FC Porto's presence and deepen relationships across Asia."

Nguyễn Mạnh Thắng, Ambassador of Vietnam to Portugal

The meeting with André Villas-Boas
"It was a pleasure for me, as Ambassador of Vietnam, to be able to meet with the President of FC Porto, a great football club in Portugal. I had a very interesting conversation with the President of FC Porto and we discussed several topics."

Portugal beyond borders
"In Vietnam, people are very interested in football and greatly appreciate Portuguese football. We are admirers of the quality of Portuguese players, and that is why we decided to begin the cooperation process in the development of Vietnamese players. We raised this possibility with the President of FC Porto and he showed willingness to welcome athletes from our country."

The national sport
"Those who did not know it now know that football is the Vietnamese people's favourite sport. In our country everyone likes football and when the national team wins, the country becomes very happy. We discussed these topics and it was a very interesting discussion."

Half a century of connection
"Our countries maintain an excellent relationship and we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between Portugal and Vietnam, which have embassies in Hanoi and in Lisbon. Sport is a vector of cooperation and development that helps strengthen collaboration between the two countries."