The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Awards were announced at a ceremony held in Hanoi Friday night.
Hai pipped his Thai counterpart, Chanathip Songkrasin, to be chosen Player of the Year. Hai has been a key player of both Hanoi FC and the Vietnam’s national team. His impressive performances helped Hanoi FC win the V-League and reach the final of AFC Cup this year.
He contributed greatly to take the national team to the 2018 AFC U23 Championship final, ASIAD 2018 semi-final, AFF Cup 2018 championship, and Asian Cup 2019 quarterfinal.
Fostering Hai's talent and performance at the national level was coach Park Hang-seo. After he took over reins of the Vietnamese men’s football team in October 2017, he revitalized Vietnamese football and made Vietnam a strong candidate at every Asian championship. His success is also underscored by the record of no loss against any other Southeast Asian team. Prior to the AFF Awards, Vietnam Football Federation offered the coach a fresh three-year contract, which was happily accepted.
Coach Park won the Coach of the Year award, and goalkeeper Dang Van Lam included in the AFF Best 11. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Thoa. |
"I want to thank the Vietnamese people for their constant support. Without them, we will not have today’s success as a team. In addition, I would like to dedicate this award to the members of the coaching staff as well as the VFF leaders for facilitating me and my players tirelessly," Park said at the award ceremony.
Besides the two important personal awards, the Vietnamese men’s national team were named the National Team of the Year, with three players chosen in the AFF Awards Best 11 - goalkeeper Van Lam, defender Que Ngoc Hai, and midfielder Quang Hai.
Tran Van Vu was also named the Futsal Player of the Year.
Coach Mai Duc Chung of Vietnamese women’s football team was not able to win the award, with Nuengrutai Srathongvian of Thai women’s national team chosen as Coach of the Year.