Tran Gia Bao, don't believe you are 'top 60 in the world'

Tran Gia Bao is named in the Guardian's top 60 "Next Gen" players.

But for Tran Gia Bao, that pride needs to be kept at a sober level. Because if compliments are not placed in the right place, they will become a virtual drug that steals an entire future.

In his first appearance in V.League 2024/25, Tran Gia Bao attracted attention with a goal in the 1-0 round against Quang Nam . However, this striker was not used much by the HAGL coaching staff afterwards.

They understood that at the age of 16, Tran Gia Bao was still not good enough to be able to take on the task of a striker in a fierce tournament like V.League. That goal was not considered to be of high value because it happened in the extra time when the opponent had given up, unable to turn the game around after being down by 3 goals.

In the 2025/26 National Cup, Tran Gia Bao scored 1 goal against Thanh Hoa . In the 2025/26 V.League, this young striker rarely played even though HAGL is in dire need of a good striker.

Specifically, the player born in 2008 played 3 matches but only came on the field from the bench, mainly from the middle of the second half onwards with a total of 51 minutes if counting in official minutes. Up to this point, HAGL has only had 1 goal and it did not belong to Tran Gia Bao.

With those statistics, the British newspaper Guardian's selection of Tran Gia Bao as one of the 60 talents of world football has left a big mark. Experts and reporters of this newspaper can closely follow the journey of the young HAGL striker, but it is very difficult to cover hundreds of young players of the same age to make an accurate comparison.

Therefore, it could be a subjective, emotional and spontaneous choice when witnessing a dribbling move, scoring skills in the last 2 goals of Tran Gia Bao. It is also possible to choose randomly because of... a secret.

In fact, HAGL's striker is not talented enough to surpass hundreds of thousands of players of the same age, especially in football powerhouses like England, France, America, Japan, Brazil, Argentina... to be in the top 60 young talents in the world .

Phan Thanh Hau was once named by British newspapers as one of the top young players.

Therefore, this information can be a double-edged sword, it can be a motivation for Tran Gia Bao to strive to improve himself but it also does not exclude the risk of harming a promising player of Vietnamese football if he sees that compliment as wings to fly high, then… carried away with the wind. The best way for this young man is not to believe in that poll.

It should be noted that this is not the first time a Vietnamese player has been given wings by the British newspaper Guardian to fly high into the top ranks of the world. Phan Thanh Hau once became a “victim” when he was even in the top 40 young talents in the world voted by this newspaper. After 10 years of journey, the midfielder of HAGL Arsenal JMG academy did not leave any significant mark as praised and had to wander in many different teams, including the First Division, and is currently playing for Becamex TP.HCM.

Tran Gia Bao is a promising player of Vietnamese football. However, the vote of HAGL striker in the top 60 young talents of the world is hard to believe. Above all, the image of senior player Phan Thanh Hau is a living proof for Tran Gia Bao to warn himself not to be carried away by the virtual value of a vague vote.

Source: https://znews.vn/tran-gia-bao-dung-tin-minh-la-top-60-the-gioi-post1594870.html