Vietnamese football gets 2 nominations in Asian tournament

Vietnamese football received 2 nominations at this year's Asian awards.

The Southeast Asian region continues to make a strong impression in many collective categories. The Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) is competing directly with East Asia (EAFF) and West Asia (SAFF) for the "AFC Regional Association of the Year" award.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and Thailand (FAT) are in the top nomination group for the "AFC Member Association of the Year (Diamond)" category, for countries with comprehensive achievements at the national team, women's football and youth training levels.

In the "AFC Member Association of the Year (Ruby)" category, the Lao Football Federation (LFF) is present alongside Bangladesh and Guam - a positive sign for the development of regional football.

Notably, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) was nominated for the Silver award for the "AFC President's Recognition Award for Grassroots Football" category, while Vietnam also participated in the Bronze award with Bangladesh and Northern Mariana.

The Grassroots category honours federations that have effective community football development programmes – from youth training, school football to local movements. However, many Southeast Asian fans are puzzled that Malaysia was nominated despite facing a serious crisis involving seven naturalised players.

However, observers assert that these two issues are not directly related because the AFC award only evaluates grassroots development work, not team management. However, the contrast between the honored image and the scandal under investigation has made Malaysia the center of attention.

Malaysia's Aiman has been nominated for the "AFC Player of the Year" category.

In the individual award category, Arif Aiman became the first Malaysian player in history to be nominated for the most prestigious title, "Asian Player of the Year".

The 23-year-old Johor Darul Ta'zim star had a brilliant season, scoring five goals in the AFC Champions League Elite, helping the club win the domestic treble. At the national team level, Arif has also been a key factor.

Competing with Aiman are two leading faces of West Asian football. Akram Afif (Qatar) has the chance to become the first player to win the title three times, after winning the national championship for the 18th time with Al Sadd and going deep in the AFC Champions League Elite.

Salem Al Dawsari (Saudi Arabia) - the winner of the 2022 award, continued to show top form with 10 goals, leading the list of top scorers in the continental tournament and bringing Al Hilal to the semi-finals last season.

The AFC's "Asian Player of the Year" award is different from the title of the same name, which is annually organized by Chinese newspaper Titan Sports . This award was established in 2013. A few days ago, Son Heung-min surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award for the 10th time.

Source: https://znews.vn/bong-da-viet-nam-duoc-2-de-cu-o-giai-chau-a-post1594244.html