Vietnamese midfielder is best player of AFF Suzuki Cup 2018

In the eight matches that Vietnam played in the tournament, Hai scored three goals and contributed two assists that manifested into goals for the team.

The midfielder received the $10,000 reward from the organizing board for his huge contribution to Vietnam’s championship.

Hai, 21, is the first Vietnamese player to be named among 500 most important players in the globe by World Soccer, an English football magazine.

Nguyen Quang Hai is surrounded by four Philippines players in a semi-final match. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Thoa

The AFF Suzuki Cup 2018, a biennial football tournament, was played from November 8 to December 15 at different stadiums in Southeast Asia. The second leg of the final match of the latest edition ended a couple hours ago with Vietnam beating Malaysia 1-0 and winning the championship after a decade.

This year has seen impressive achievements in Vietnamese football. In January, Hai was part of the Vietnamese team that battled to the final and finished runner-up at the Under-23 AFC championship. Hai scored five goals. The Vietnamese Olympic football team also became a semi-finalist for the first time at the Asian Games 2018.