Vietnamese forward Nguyen Quang Hai was placed in the World Soccer magazine’s list for the top 500 most influential players in the world.
Quang Hai was one of the key players of the Vietnamese team at 2018 AFC U-23 Championship. He scored five goals, only behind Almoez Ali of Qatar, who scored six.
Other famous players of different nationalities have been added to the list, including Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah.
The magazine stated that world football powerhouse Brazil, Germany, France, Spain, Argentina, and Italy dominated the list, with 20 players of each country selected.
Other than Quang Hai, Southeast Asia football has two players on the list of the globe’s most important players. Teerasil Dangda of Thailand and the Filipino player Stephan Schrock join the list with the Vietnamese forward.
World Soccer also announced five criteria to choose players into their Top 500 list. They are:
1.In-form players who have starred in their respective domestic league during the current 2017-18 season.
2. The young talents who have earned rave reviews in the past year.
3. The internationals who will be key figures for their respective national sides at the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.
4. Players who are likely to be key figures in the summer transfer market.
5. Those who have made the headlines off the pitch.
See the full list HERE.
