Park Hang-seo and his Vietnamese players celebrate their 2018 AFF Cup trophy.

Vietnam head coach Park Hang-seo stands a high chance to scoop the Coach of the Year honour following the consecutive miracles that he has brought to Vietnamese football during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns.

Under the dynasty of Park, Vietnamese football has constantly achieved historic milestones: finishing as the runners-up at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, reaching the men’s football semifinals at the 2018 Asian Games, winning the long-awaited AFF Cup trophy in 2018 and making the 2019 Asian Cup quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai is highly favoured to be named as the Male Player of the Year at the AFF Awards Night 2019. Quang Hai has left the greatest imprint in the success of Vietnamese football over the last two years, contributing five goals to steer the Vietnamese team to the runner-up finish at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship. He then performed brilliantly and was voted as the Most Valuable Player at the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup. Hai also played a key role in Hanoi FC’s success in both the 2019 V.League and AFC Cup arenas.

In addition to the two prestigious awards mentioned above, Vietnamese football is also expected to claim the top honour in the “Young Player of the Year” and “Goal of AFF Suzuki Cup 2018” categories and dominate the AFF’s XI.

This is the first time Vietnam has been assigned to host the biennial AFF Awards Night, which aims to honour the efforts and sacrifices of football stars in the Southeast Asian region.

At the awards ceremony in Malaysia two years ago, Vietnam’s Mai Duc Chung was honoured as the Women’s Coach of the Year after leading the Vietnamese team to the 29th SEA Games gold medal. Meanwhile, Vietnamese player Doan Van Hau was named for the “Young Player of the Year” award.

The AFF Awards Night 2019 will present 18 awards to individuals and organisations with significant contributions to the regional football, including:

- ASEAN Goodwill Award

- Lifetime Dedication Award (for Dato' Sri Pual Mony)

- Referee of the Year Award for Men/Women

- Assistant Referee of the Year Award for Men/Women

- Young Player of the Year Award

- Futsal Player of the Year Award

- Futsal Team of the Year Award

- Federation of the Year Award

- Men’s/Women’s National Team of the Year Award

- Men’s/Women’s Coach of the Year Award

- Goal of the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup Award

- AFF’s XI Award

- Male/Female Player of the Year Award

Nhan Dan

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