Coach Pham Minh Duc and former General Secretary of the Hanoi Football Federation Phan Anh Tu believe that striker Pham Tuan Hai deserves to win the 2023 Golden Ball, but that does not mean he should underestimate Nguyen Hoang Duc.
According to experts, voting for the most important individual award in Vietnamese football this year is not easy. In the first half of the year, Hoang Duc excelled with the title of "Best Player of V-League 2023". But in the rest of the year, Tuan Hai made more impressions at the national team level, as well as V-League 2023-2024 and especially with four goals in the AFC Champions League - the number one club level playground in Asia.
Nguyen Hoang Duc (middle) with Pham Tuan Hai (left) and Dang Van Lam at the 2023 Vietnam Golden Ball award ceremony. Photo: Duc Dong
Of the four goals in the AFC Champions League, Tuan Hai is remembered for his classy double against Chinese club Wuhan Three Towns, helping Hanoi FC come from behind to win 2-1 in the fourth round. In the final round, he scored a penalty to seal a 2-1 victory, eliminating defending champions Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan in the group stage. These were also the first two victories of Hanoi FC in the history of participating in the AFC Champions League.
Therefore, Coach Minh Duc understands why there are conflicting opinions when Tuan Hai only won the Silver Ball, although he admits that Hoang Duc also deserves this victory. "Tuan Hai's performance in recent tournaments is better than Hoang Duc's," said the former coach of Hanoi and Ha Tinh.
Meanwhile, football expert Phan Anh Tu assessed the voting results as reasonable when Vietnamese football in 2023 declined in terms of international achievements. In the context that it is not easy to determine who is better between the two players at the club level, the result is completely decided by the views of each expert and journalist. Mr. Tu shared: "In 2023, Vietnamese football does not have any outstanding players, so just a difference of one or two points in the vote will determine the result."
Commentator Vu Quang Huy said: "Tuan Hai has more outstanding moments, especially in the AFC Champions League. But that does not mean that Hoang Duc - the best player of V-League 2023 - is underrated."
Mr. Huy also assessed that the Vietnam Golden Ball vote in recent years has depended on the achievements of the national team, but in 2023 there will be no major tournaments but mainly friendlies. Tuan Hai scored goals but all in friendly matches, while the 2023 Asian Cup held from January 12, 2024 to February 10, 2024 is not within the voting period. Therefore, Mr. Huy believes that Tuan Hai is not much more outstanding than Hoang Duc - who was less used under coach Philippe Troussier and missed the 2023 Asian Cup due to injury.
Pham Tuan Hai (in white shirt) scores the winning goal 2-1 in Hanoi FC's win over Wuhan Three Towns in the group stage of the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League. Photo: Trung Nhu
At the award ceremony last night, February 19, Hoang Duc and Tuan Hai both showed great respect for each other when giving their award acceptance speeches. The midfielder of The Cong affirmed that Tuan Hai also deserved to win the Golden Ball. Tuan Hai considered the Silver Ball award as a motivation to strive and hoped that Vietnam would have more good players in the future to compete for the award.
The Vietnam Golden Ball is awarded annually, first in 1995 to striker Le Huynh Duc. The award was inspired by the Golden Ball of the French magazine France Football , also voted by journalists and experts.
As of 2023, the player with the most Golden Balls for men is Pham Thanh Luong (2009, 2011, 2014, 2016). Following with three times are Le Huynh Duc (1995, 1997, 2002) and Le Cong Vinh (2004, 2006, 2007). Nguyen Hoang Duc won twice in 2021 and 2023, equal to Nguyen Van Quyet (2020, 2022) and Nguyen Hong Son (1998, 2000).
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