Top player: Striker Nguyen Anh Duc (middle) of Becamex Binh Duong is one of 20 candidates for the Golden Ball title this year. (Source: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) - The 2015 Golden Ball Award for the best player ♏of the year was kicked off on November 23 in HCM City.
Hosted by Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) Newspaper for 21 years, the award aims at honouring the most outstanding individual players through the season.
This year, the organisers announced six categories: men's and women's Golden Balls, best young male and female players, best foreign player and best futsal (indoor football) player.
In the most wanted class of men's Golden Ball, the organisers on November 23 announced 20 candidates.
Defending champions Becamex Binh Duong and the runners-up Ha Noi T&T contributed half of the number.
The highlighted names are Nguyen Anh Duc and Le Cong Vinh of Becamex Binh Duong and Nguyen Van Quyet and Pham Thanh Luong of Ha Noi T&T as the most potential candidates.
Song Lam Nghe An, another football hub of the country, have three names.
Captain Duc is the best player of V. League 1 2015.
In the women's category, HCM City and Hanoi nominated eight out of 11 candidates.
In the young male player pool, Do Duy Manh of Hanoi T&T, who is also named in the Golden Ball list is the strongest nominee.
Manh, 19, has been a key member in his club, the national U21, U23 and the national squads.
Manh is the best young player of the V. League 1 which is managed by the Vietnam Professional Football Joinstock Company.
Vo Huy Toan of Da Nang, and Nguyen Cong Phuong and Nguyen Tuan Anh of Hoang Anh Gia Lai are Manh's strong rivals.
In the foreign player class, there are 10 candidates including the national best scorer Tambwe Patiyo of Quang Nam.
It is the first time futsal players are being honoured in this annual event. Twelve nominees, nearly half of them members of national champions Thai Son Nam Club, are vying for the title.
Nearly 160 coaches, team captains, sport journalists and experts will take part in the vote.
The awards ceremony will be organised on January 6 in HCM City and will be aired live on different TV channels.
Last year, Luong of Hanoi T&T won the men's statue while Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung took the women's glory.-VNA
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Pham Thanh Luong of Hanoi on April 13 beat his teammate Nguyen Van Quyet and Le Cong Vinh of Binh Duong to win the Golden Ball Award for the best Vietnamese footballer of the year.
Becamex Binh Duong held onto their V.League 1 trophy in style, with a brilliant 4-2 victory over Dong Thap in the final round match of tournament on September 20.
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The Vietnamese team will gather on June 26 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, where they will train until July 14 before departing for Indonesia for the ASEAN U23 Championship 2025, which runs from July 15 to 29. Vietnam will face Laos on July 19 and Cambodia on July 22 in the group stage.
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For the first time, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) has granted Vietnam hosting rights for the two championships, including the Asian women’s solo category, which debuts this year as an officially recognised event.
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For the first time, Vietnamese audiences will have the opportunity to experience the ballet masterpiece "Don Quixote" in its original version by renowned choreographer Marius Petipa.
The contest carried deep meaning as it was the first time the life of Vietnamese women abroad had been highlighted as the central theme, said poet and writer Nguyen Quang Thieu, Chairman of the Vietnam Writers’ Association.
The event formed part of Vietnam’s ongoing campaign to seek UNESCO World Heritage status for the complex at the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled to take place in Paris in July.
Creative cultural festivals are fast emerging as a new catalyst for tourism development in Vietnam, as localities increasingly invest in these vibrant events on a more systematic and larger scale.
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Coming to the Vietnamese booth, visitors had the chance to take part in a bamboo dance, a workshop on painting woven bamboo or rattan, or quizzes about Vietnam.
These are impressive achievements, not only showing the efforts and prowess of Vietnamese paddlers but also serving as proof of the sports sector’s strategic and systematic investment.
The cultural event in Canberra not only fostered cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Australia but also contributed to promoting Vietnam’s image internationally
Top player: Striker Nguyen Anh Duc (middle) of Becamex Binh Duong is one of 20 candidates for the Golden Ball title this year. (Source: VNA)
