On Monday morning, the organising committee announced a list of nominees for six categories for this year's awards, including Man's Golden Ball, Woman's Golden Ball, Futsal Golden Ball, Best Young Male Player, Best Young Female Player, and Best Foreign Player.
The list features a range of famous names from Vietnamese football, including many U22 players who have just won the first gold medal in men’s soccer for Vietnam in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games at the 30th edition in the Philippines a few days ago.
In the 25-man shortlist for Man's Golden Ball, Hanoi FC overwhelms the list with seven names, including Do Hung Dung, Nguyen Thanh Chung, Nguyen Quang Hai, Pham Duc Huy, Do Duy Manh, Nguyen Van Quyet and Doan Van Hau (on loan to Dutch side SC Heerenveen from September).
Meanwhile, Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC contributes four names, including Nguyen Tuan Anh, Nguyen Phong Hong Duy, Nguyen Van Toan and Tran Minh Vuong. Hoang Vu Samson continues to be the only naturalised player to make the list, while impressive Ha Duc Chinh (Da Nang) and Nguyen Hoang Duc (Viettel) in the SEA Games campaign are also present.
In 2019, these players not only contribute greatly to the success of both Vietnam senior and younger teams, but also helped their clubs achieve great success domestically. In particular, star men Hung Dung and Quang Hai are favoured to win the award as they have helped Hanoi FC dominate the domestic league and reach the AFC Cup Inter-zonal Finals for the first time ever.
In nominating the Best Young Male Player, Van Hau will compete with Hoang Duc, Huynh Tan Sinh (Quang Nam), Do Thanh Thinh (Da Nang), Nguyen Van Toan (Hai Phong) and Tran Danh Trung (Viettel).
The list of nominees for the 2019 Woman's Golden Ball includes the prominent players who shone in achieving gold medals in the 30th SEA Games by defeating Thailand 1-0 in extra time of the final match, such as Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung (Ha Nam), Chuong Thi Kieu, Huynh Nhu, Tran Thi Kim Thanh, and Thai Thi Thao (Ho Chi Minh City). The bravery of the Vietnamese girls in the SEA Games final against their arch rivals will make it a difficult tasks for the organisers to choose a winner.
The Vietnamese Golden Ball Awards are an annual award for the best performances of Vietnamese footballers over the year. It was first started 1995 by Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) Newspaper with the first winner being retired striker Le Huynh Duc.
The winners will be voted for by 190 football managers, executives, experts, coaches and captains of the national teams and professional clubs, as well as a number of sports journalists across the country.
The deadline for the vote is December 31. After that, the organisers will conduct the vote counting and soon publish the final shortlist in each category. The award gala will take place on the evening of February 13, 2020 in Ho Chi Minh City, after the Vietnamese U23s, the national women's team and the national futsal team finishes their competitions in early 2020, as well as before the start of the new season, which will be a warm-up and motivation for players heading into the new season.
