Vietnam’s 20-year-old international left-back Doan Van Hau has been nominated for the annual AFC Young Player of the Year, as per this report from FOX Sports Asia.
The defender is Southeast Asia’s only representative at the awards and is in highly esteemed company such as FC Barcelona’s Hiroki Abe (Japan) and Valencia CF’s Lee Kang-in (Korea).
Van Hau, who has become a regular for the Vietnamese national team despite his age, earned a move to Dutch side SC Heerenveen from Hanoi FC earlier this year.
After helping his side come second in the AFC U23 Championships and fourth at the 2018 Asian Games, Van Hau made his name for the senior team at the 2018 AFF Championships. Vietnam won the regional tournament for the first time in a decade, leading the group of players to be branded as the nation’s ‘Golden Generation.’
Van Hau also impressed at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, where he was named among the top 10 young players at the tournament.