Nguyen Hoang Duc: 'Pham Tuan Hai also deserves to win the Golden Ball'

HCMC – After winning the 2023 Vietnamese Golden Ball award, the midfielder of The Cong Club and the Vietnamese national team praised Pham Tuan Hai – a fellow player who has made significant progress over the past year.

"Both Tuan Hai and I had good matches and beautiful goals. Today, whoever wins the Golden Ball deserves it. I believe this award will motivate us to improve ourselves and contribute even more to Vietnamese football," the new winner of the Vietnamese Golden Ball told VnExpress after the awards ceremony on the evening of February 19.

Hoang Duc (center) poses for a photo with Pham Tuan Hai (left) and Dang Van Lam at the Vietnam Golden Ball Awards 2023 ceremony, held in Ho Chi Minh City on the evening of February 19. Photo: Duc Dong — Hoang Duc (center) poses for a photo with Pham Tuan Hai (left) and Dang Van Lam at the Vietnam Golden Ball Awards 2023 ceremony, held in Ho Chi Minh City on the evening of February 19. Photo: *Duc Dong*

In 2023, Hoang Duc played four matches for the national team but did not score any goals. However, in the 2023 V-League season, he scored five goals and provided five assists in 20 matches, helping The Cong Viettel finish the season in third place with 32 points – six points behind the top two teams, CAHN and Hanoi FC. Hoang Duc was therefore voted the best player in the V-League last season.

Hoang Duc was a key midfielder for the national team under coach Park Hang-seo. In 2021, he also won the Vietnamese Golden Ball award. However, since coach Philippe Troussier took over in early 2023, his role has gradually diminished, and he didn't even play a single minute in the two matches against the Philippines and Iraq in the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers - Asian region. He was also unable to participate in the 2023 Asian Cup due to injury. Coach Troussier stated that he didn't use Hoang Duc because he hadn't met his requirements, while the team's midfield was already stable. According to the French coach, individually, Hoang Duc is a quality player, versatile, and capable of creating breakthroughs, but he hasn't yet demonstrated those qualities effectively within a team.

"I feel that I am improving myself and contributing, meeting the club's targets. The most regrettable thing is that in the second half of 2023, I was injured and unable to participate in the Asian Cup with the national team," the midfielder from Hai Duong added.

Prior to this year's awards ceremony, striker Pham Tuan Hai received high expectations. Wearing the national team jersey, he scored against Syria and Palestine, and started both matches against the Philippines and Iraq in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers – Asian region. At the Asian Cup, Tuan Hai was considered by the Asian Football Confederation as a promising Vietnamese player, and contributed one goal in the opening match against Japan, which Vietnam lost 2-4.

The 25-year-old striker has maintained high form in the V-League and scored in the early stages of the 2023-2024 season. He also made a name for himself in the AFC Champions League, in Hanoi FC's first participation, with four goals and one assist. This included a late goal that helped Hanoi eliminate defending champions Urawa Red Diamonds from the tournament.

However, according to the voting results, Tuan Hai only won the Silver Ball. The striker considers this a memorable achievement and sees it as motivation to strive for even better results in the future.

Duc Dong

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