LookAtVietnam – National players Le Cong Vinh on the men’s side and Do Ngoc Cham on the women’s side won the Football Newspaper 2008 Most Valuable Player prizes on Sunday.

Striker Le Cong Vinh.

The award commemorates the Nghe An-born player’s tireless contribution to both his former club Song Lam Nghe An and the national team during the 2008 season.

The 24-year-old Vinh is the most well known footballer abroad. His two goals in the two-leg final match of the AFF Suzuki Cup helped Viet Nam take victory for the first time in 49 years.

Vinh, who received the Golden Ball for best Vietnamese footballer of the year three times in a row, took in 14,900 points from fans across the country. Goalkeeper Duong Hong Son won 11,080 points, and midfielder Vu Nhu Thanh came in third with 6,460 points.

Vinh first came to prominence with his sensational national team debut at the 2004 ASEAN Football Championship, also called the Tiger Cup. It was the same year he won both the Golden Ball and the Best Junior Footballer titles.

“It is a great honour for me to be selected as the most valuable of the year. I thank the fans very much. This award is to honour the individual, however, in my opinion, all national footballers who played in the AFF Cup are worthy recipients of the prize. Without my teammates, I couldn’t have scored any goals. I will try my best for national football as well as to keep the title this year,” said Vinh.

Striker Ngoc Cham proved her talent two years ago at the age of 22 when she joined the national team after years playing for Ha Noi club. She received 7,780 points for her victory, a small Iead over Dao Thi Mien with 7,770 points in second and Tran Thi Kim Hong with 3,390 points rounding out the top three.

Cham was one of the top scorers at the national championship last year and proved to be a nightmare to many defenders at the 24th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in 2007.

Calisto, who was appointed coach of both the national and the U23 teams, grabbed a remarkable 21,870 points. Runner-up Vuong Tien Dung, was far behind with 2,920 points for second. Mai Duc Chung was third with 2,710 points.

In 2002 Calisto led the national team to a third place finish at the ASEAN Football Championship in Indonesia. Calisto said “Vietnamese fans are very wonderful. They are part of strength that led to victory in recent times.

Fan appreciation serves as a ruler for success; this is my first glory after nearly eight years working in Viet Nam.”

Strikers Vinh and Cham are also expected to win the Golden Ball trophies which will be announced on March 24.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News