Nominees announced for 2010 Vietnam Golden Ball

Pham Thanh Luong (C) receives the Vietnam Golden Ball title for the 2009 football season

Vietnam Golden Ball Award organizer, Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper, announced Tuesday the list of 35 nominees for the titles of best male footballer, best female, best U-21, and best foreigner in the year of 2010.

The selection of the list has been unanimously agreed upon by journalists from 17 sports media agencies in Vietnam. Selection is based on performances and conduct of morals during competitions last year.

Winners of each of the categories will be publicly announced in a ceremony to be held in late March in Ho Chi Minh City.

The list of nominees was sent to sports journalists, coaches and officials on Tuesday and it is planned the organizers will receive back the votes by March 10.

Now, strikers Le Huynh Duc and Le Cong Vinh top the honorable table with each winning the award three times in the past 15 years.

Male winners of Vietnam Golden Ball Awards from 1995-2009:

Le Huynh Duc (1995)

Vo Hoang Buu (1996)

Le Huynh Duc (1997)

Nguyen Hong Son (1998)

Tran Cong Minh (1999)

Nguyen Hong son (2000)

Vo Van Hanh (2001)

Le Huynh Duc (2002)

Pham Van Quyen (2003)

Le Cong Vinh (2004)

Phan Van Tai Em (2005)

Le Cong Vinh (2006)

Le Cong Vinh (2007)

Duong Hong Son (2008)

Pham Thanh Luong (2009)

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T&T set for Da Nang showdown

Comeback: Top striker Le Cong Vinh (right) of Ha Noi T&T will be back in action after a prolonged injury. — VNS Photo Quang Thang

HA NOI — The national football league resumes play today after a three-week Tet holiday break with a match between defending champions Ha Noi T&T and SHB Da Nang in the capital city.

The match is considered entrepreneur Do Quang Hien's own personal derby, as the businessman owns both teams.

The winner of the game will receive a huge bonus from Hien, who has urged both teams to compete in the spirit of fair play.

This is only the third season that Ha Noi T&T have been completing in the V-League- Eximbank Cup, but they have always won against Da Nang when playing at home.

In addition, Ha Noi T&T are in high spirits following victories in the first two matches of the season. They currently top the table, while Da Nang stand sixth following a victory and a loss.

Ha Noi T&T's fire power received a substantial boost today with the news that top national team striker Le Cong Vinh will be in the line up for the match, his first match after an injury eight months ago.

Vinh said he was very keen to get back into action.

"I have totally recovered and feel very strong," he said. "I hope I can play with the same skill as before my injury."

Vinh's return is a major boost for the team, which is seeking to extend its lead in the league.

Coach Phan Thanh Hung revealed that he added Vinh to the list of substitutes for today's game, and the striker will be allowed to play if he is needed.

"It is possible that Vinh will come off the bench," said Hung. "I will give him a chance to compete but it is not good for him if he is forced to play too much."

Apart from Vinh, T&T are also welcoming back former national player Thach Bao Khanh, who was rested for a month due to an ankle injury. Khanh, who joins the club from Thanh Hoa, is a tough midfielder and will make Hung's line-up more solid.

Former champs Da Nang also boast a strong line up. In preparation for the season, coach Le Huynh Duc has brought home several top players, including former national team captain Nguyen Minh Phuong.

Phuong will be a key player during the match, along with Argentinean Gaston Merlo who was the top goal scorer during the last two seasons and has scored twice already this season.

Duc and his players travelled to Ha Noi on Wednesday to familiarise themselves with the capital city's cold.

In the other matches tomorrow, Ha Noi ACB will play Hoang Anh Gia Lai at Hang Day; Vicem Hai Phong will face Dong Thap at Hai Phong's Lach Tray Stadium; hosts Ninh Binh will meet former champions Dong Tam Long An in Ninh Binh Province; Lam Son Thanh Hoa will clash with Navibank Sai Gon at Thong Nhat Stadium in HCM City; two-time winner Becamex Binh Duong host dark horses Khatoco Khanh Hoa at Go Dau, and in Vinh, Song Lam Nghe An welcome Hoa Phat Ha Noi. — VNS

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Football stars score off the field

Moonlighting: National team goalie Bui Tan Truong (top) and his teammate Le Cong Vinh at a training session in Ha Noi. Both players have undertaken successful business ventures off the field. — VNS Photos Quang Thang

HCM CITY — Well-paid local football stars are increasingly looking to the investment sector as a way of supplementing their incomes.

The most recent sports star to go into business is national Olympic team's goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong, who received VND5 billion (US$250,000) for an extended three-year contract with V-League football club Dong Thap last year.

Truong, who is also a senior national team keeper, invested more than VND 1billion in a joint complex of six artificial-turf pitches with Nguyen Ngoc Anh Tu, who works for a military company.

The complex called Sai Gon Football Club K2 is on Tran Van Du Street, Tan Binh District and has six pitches for five-person games. Each pitch has 12 lights.

"Truong is a good player and a well-behaved person. So I decided to ask him to join me in this complex, which is worth about VND4 billion ($200,000)," Tu said, adding that he will open a sports shop in the facility.

"I am a player, so opening mini-artificial turf business is something I am familiar with," said Truong, who also is investing his money to open an internet shop for his wife and buy a 16-seat Mercedes-Benz car for his brother.

"I am sometimes away to play football and Tu will manage the business. We believe in each other. After one week of operation, I feel optimistic about our success," he said.

Although the complex has only been open for a week during pre-Lunar New Year holidays, not a prime time for his target customers, many youth visited the complex yesterday evening.

Truong is not the first football star to use his earnings in this way.

Le Huynh Duc, national team's former striker and now coach of former V-League champion, SHB Da Nang, has sports shops in HCM City and Da Nang.

However, star striker Le Cong Vinh, who once opened a restaurant in Vinh Yen city of Vinh Phuc Province with Ha Noi T&T teammate Duong Hong Son, said many players did not have enough time to devote to management.

But he also pointed that managing an artificial grass-turf business was not as difficult or time-consuming.

Last year, the National Olympic team player Pham Thanh Luong opened a cafe named Diva in Ha Noi while the national team striker Nguyen Anh Duc did the same with a chain of shops that sells sports equipment in Binh Duong Province and HCM City. — VNS

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Vinh to make return from injury

Back on his feet: Striker Le Cong Vinh (left) trains with national teammates at Ha Noi's My Dinh National Stadium. He is set to return to action in the V-League this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Quoc Khanh

HA NOI — Top striker Le Cong Vinh is set to return to action in the next month, just two to three weeks after the V-League season kicks off.

The imminent return of the three-time Golden Ball winner is good news for his club, Ha Noi T&T, who are currently in pre-season training before they start the defence of their title.

Vinh was sidelined for nearly one year after rupturing his knee ligaments, and was unable to take part in his team's victory party last season.

Since returning home in October following surgery in Portugal, Vinh has been saying that being able to kick a ball around for just five minutes would bring him great happiness.

The Nghe An-born player has spent more than US$10,000 on the services of physio Luis Alberto in a bid to make a speedy recovery.

Vinh's return will come as a welcome boost to T&T, who spent a record transfer fee of nearly VND10 billion ($500,000) on him.

Despite only playing for part of the 2008-09 season, Vinh finished as top scorer with 14 goals.

Club chairman Nguyen Quoc Hoi said that the 2009-10 triumph was just the beginning.

He said apart from the domestic league, his He said apart from the domestic league, his team was targeting a berth in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup this year. — VNS

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Injury keeps Vietnam football star out of AFF Cup

A ligament injury will keep striker Le Cong Vinh out of football’s AFF Suzuki Cup

Photo: Tuoi Tre

A ligament injury will keep striker Le Cong Vinh out of football’s AFF Suzuki Cup to be held in Vietnam and Indonesia in December, the star told Tuoi Tre while undergoing treatment in Portugal.

How is your knee shaping up?

After the ligament surgery and two months of physiotherapy, I can just do simple exercises with the ball.

What did your surgeon say about the injury?

He said though my recovery is on track, it will take me six months from June to recover fully.

He also advised me to strictly follow the physiotherapy schedule.

I think my injury will get better as my surgeon Noronha has successfully treated many other footballers, including midfielder Anderson of Manchester United, ex-Chelsea midfielder Deco, and defender Pepe of Real Madrid.

So what do you think about the chances of you playing in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup?

Though I wish to play, my injury will prevent me from playing until the end of the first round. I don’t think I can play there after an eight-month layoff.

I think there will be better players for national team coach Calisto to choose in my place.

What has Calisto told you?

He just told me to closely follow my therapy schedule so that I can get better soon but did not indicate he will keep a spot for me in the team for the AFF Cup.

What do you think about the V-League title your team Hanoi T&T, have just won?

I think my team deserved it for the efforts we put in. We had targeted this top position since the beginning.

But it’s a pity I could not attend the award ceremony.

What do you think about the rumors that Navibank Sai Gon want to buy you for $1 million?

It is just hearsay. I have not met the team or anyone else for my transfer.

My contract with Hanoi T&T runs for another year. I have to do my best to repay the team for the money they have paid for treating my injury. I’ll only leave the team when they say they do not need me any more.

Le Cong Vinh, born in Nghe An Province, achieved recognition and fame while playing for his hometown from 2004 to 2008. In 2008, in a well-documented transfer saga, he turned down The Cong’s offer at the last minute to join Hanoi T&T at a then record transfer fee of around VND10 billion(US$513,000). In August 2009 Hanoi announced that Vinh would be joining Portugal’s Leixões Sport Club in a three-month loan deal. The deal was facilitated by Henrique Calisto, who was once Leixões' manager. Vinh is widely regarded as the best striker Vietnam has produced along with Le Huynh Duc, the first to play professionally overseas. Already at age 23, Vinh has won three Golden Balls (2004, 2006, 2007) given by the Vietnam Football Federation to the best player of the year. He and Duc are the only ones to have won it thrice. In 2009 Vinh ranked fifth on Goal.com's Top Ten Promising Youngsters in Asian Football. He holds the record for most goals scored in a single season by a Vietnamese player in the league. He is also the top Vietnamese goal-scorer in V-League history and second highest scorer behind Brazilian Antonio Carlos.

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