Doan Van Hau nominated for AFC Youth Player of the Year

ABO/NDO – Doan Van Hau, a defender of the Vietnam national team, has made the shortlist of three nominees for the AFC Youth Player of the Year (Men) category at the AFC Annual Awards 2019, to be held in Hong Kong (China) on December 12.

Doan Van Hau is the only Vietnamese player nominated for an individual award at the AFC Annual Awards 2019. (Photo: Vnexpress.net)

Van Hau is the only Vietnamese representative to be nominated for a continental-level individual award by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) this year.

The 20-year-old left back has been undergoing an amazing 2019, as he joined the Vietnamese squad to advance into the Asian Cup quarterfinals and won the V.League trophy with Hanoi FC. Since September 2019 Van Hau has moved to play for SC Heerenveen. Despite yet to debut in the Eredivisie, the Netherlands’ top-tier league, he still remains an indispensable player in Park Hang-seo’s Vietnamese lineup.

Van Hau will have to compete against Hiroki Abe (Japan) and Lee Kang-in (Republic of Korea) for the AFC award. Abe, 20, grew up with Kashima Antlers FC and is currently playing for Barca B. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Lee is now playing for Valencia FC in La Liga.

According to the AFC regulations, the ‘AFC Youth Player of the Year’ award aims to honour young players who show off their talent in the AFC or FIFA tournaments. Abe was called up to the Japanese team for the Copa America 2019, while Lee also shone to help the RoK qualify for the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup for the first time.

Last year, the award was presented to Turki Al-Ammar from Saudi Arabia.

Three nominees for the AFC Player of the Year (Men) include Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, Japan defender Tomoaki Makino and Qatar forward Akram Afif.

(Source: NDO)