Vietnamese footballer listed among world’s top 500 most important players

Rising Vietnamese football star Nguyen Quang Hai has been named among the 500 most important players on the globe by World Soccer, an English football magazine.

Hai, who plays for Hanoi FC, is the first Vietnamese player ever to make it onto the list, and stands aside legends such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Hai was part of Vietnam's U23 team that shook the nation after battling all their way to the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship in China back in January. The team captured the hearts of Vietnamese fans before falling in the last minutes of extra time against Uzbekistan. Their valiant efforts throughout the championship united the entire nation, and the players shook social media and were welcomed with a rockstar return from China.

The 21-year-old superstar scored five goals for his country during the championship, putting him in the spotlight as one of Vietnam’s top young talents. One of his show-stopping efforts in the final was voted Goal of the Championship on AFC’s official website back in February.

Vietnamese football has been on a roll lately, and the national team has qualified for the finals of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.