Defender Van Hau nominated for AFC youth player award

By Duc Dong November 15, 2019 | 05:20 am PT

Doan Van Hau (L) play in a World Cup qualification match against UAE in Hanoi, November 14, 2019. Photo by VnExpress.

Vietnamese national team defender Doan Van Hau has been shortlisted for the Asia Football Confederation’s 2019 Youth Player of the Year award.

Hau, 20, goes up against Japan’s Hiroki Abe, who plays for Barcelona B, and South Korean Lee Kang-in of Valencia.

Hau has been an excellent performer through 2019.

At Hanoi FC, he was a key player in the V-League campaign for which he received the V-League Youth Player of the Year award. At the national level, he helped take Vietnam to the Asian Cup quarter-final.

Hau and midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai were two Vietnamese picked among five best U21 players at the Asian Cup.

Hau joined Dutch club SC Heerenveen in September 2019, becoming the second Vietnamese player to play in Europe after Nguyen Cong Phuong went to Belgium a few months earlier.

In 2018 the award was won by Saudi Arabia’s Turki Al-Ammar.

The award ceremony will be held in Hong Kong on December 12.