Vietnamese midfielder to vie for Asian best player of 2019

Midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai (in red) is one of the top 24 nominees of the Best Footballers of Asia 2019 award (Photo: VNA)

It is the second year in a row Hai has made the list.

Hai played outstanding for V.League 1 and National Cup champions Hanoi FC. He also helped the team advance to the final of this year AFC Cup.

On the international stage, he played a key role for Vietnam at the Asian Cup, AFC U23 Championship qualification and 2020 World Cup qualifier. He was unfortunately injured after playing three matches for Vietnam who won the 30th SEA Games crown earlier this month.

He is voted the best player of ASEAN in 2019 and is a member of the Vietnam national team, the best regional team of the year.

The Vietnamese will be against other players such as last year's winner Son Heung-min of the Republic of Korea, Theerathon Bunmathan of Thailand, Takumi Minamino of Japan and Wu Lei of China. 

The winner will be announced in the next few weeks.

The vote is organized annually and this year Titan Sports invited about 50 prestigious journalists over Asia, including Vietnamese Truong Anh Ngoc, to join the event.

Ngoc, of the Vietnam News Agency's The Thao & Van Hoa (Sports & Culture) newspaper, has been the first and only Vietnamese journalist invited to vote for the yearly Ballon d'Or./.

VNA