German star directly addresses Vietnamese origin rumors, leaving everyone astonished

German defender Kenneth Schmidt officially spoke out, completely denying the widespread rumors of Vietnamese heritage circulating on social media recently.

Recently, domestic media collectively mentioned the name Kenneth Schmidt following rumors of his Vietnamese origin. This information quickly spread, attracting significant attention from domestic fans, especially in the context of Vietnamese football always seeking quality overseas Vietnamese players.

However, Kenneth Schmidt himself has spoken out to deny everything. The defender born in 2002 confirmed he holds only German and Nigerian citizenship, and has no connection whatsoever to Vietnam or Madagascar as previously circulated. This also means all information regarding the possibility of him playing for the Vietnamese national team is inaccurate, revealing the truth behind the wave of speculation.

According to German media reports, Kenneth Schmidt was born and raised in Germany, developed through the SC Freiburg academy. He is evaluated as a modern-style defender, capable of playing well at the left-back position thanks to his attacking support ability and stable left-footed ball handling.

A major turning point in Schmidt's career came in 2023 when he was promoted to SC Freiburg's first team. On March 17, 2023, this player made his debut in the Europa League against Juventus – a memorable milestone. Just two days later, he appeared again in the Bundesliga in the 1-1 draw against Mainz.

On April 1 of the same year, Schmidt first started in the Bundesliga, playing 59 minutes against Hertha Berlin. During that season, he played a total of 13 matches across all competitions, including Bundesliga, the German Cup, and Europa League. This performance helped him reach an estimated value of up to 3 million euros in June 2023.

Nevertheless, this defender's career did not maintain its development momentum. Schmidt's current transfer value has dropped to around 800 thousand Euros. Last season, he was loaned to Hannover 96 for 6 months but didn't leave much impact before being sold to Düsseldorf for 400 thousand Euros in summer 2025.

At the national team level, Schmidt has represented German youth teams from U18 to U21 between 2019–2023, scoring 2 goals in 19 appearances. However, his progress significantly stalled afterward. Given the current situation, opportunities for this defender to feature for the German or Nigerian national teams in the near future are not easy.