Asia’s best goalkeeper Pham Van Rang died Friday in HCMC at the age of 74

Local legend Pham Van Rang, once named Asia’s best goalie by the Asian Football Confederation, passed away Friday after a stroke at his home in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 12. He was 74.

gold medals at the Southeast Asia Peninsula (SEAP) Games (origin of the SEA Games) in 1959, 1963 and 1965.

In 1966, the Asian Football Confederation named him Asia’s best goal keeper after helping the Asia

Stars Team defeat the UK’s Chelsea Club 2-1 in a match held in Malaysia.

Born in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang Province, Rang began his professional career in 1951, at the age of 17.

Though he suffered financial difficulties late in life, he was so loved by the Vietnamese football community that a group of fans and former players bought him a house in 2007. This is the house where he died.

Rang retired in 1978, and had been hospitalized several times since 1990. He suffered from diabetes and heart and lung diseases.

Reported by Dang Khoa