Golden Ball Award and short-term joy, long-term worry

When Leo Messi was awarded this prestigious title, Ronaldo's fans and newspapers immediately reacted, which has been a common occurrence in football for many years. This competition is extremely interesting and attractive even though these two shining stars are on the other side of the slope of their careers.

The story of Vietnamese football is simpler because not many stars compete in a vote. In the 2023 season, it is not difficult to predict that the Golden Ball title will be a competition between two national players Hoang Duc (The Cong Viettel) and Tuan Hai (Hanoi FC). Notably, as time goes towards the end, while Hoang Duc has not shown much at the club and seems to be... out of favor in the Vietnam National Team, Tuan Hai plays extremely well in the AFC Champions League with Hanoi FC, so many people have thought that this player from Ha Nam will have his first noble title.

But in the end, Hoang Duc received the Golden Ball award for the second time (2021 and 2023) in the context that Hoang Duc himself admitted that "Tuan Hai also deserves the Golden Ball award". At first, this sentence sounds "diplomatic" but if you think about it, it is not without basis. Because Hoang Duc only helped Viettel finish 3rd in V-League 2023, while Tuan Hai and Hanoi FC finished second and played well in the National Team and the Continental Cup. Of course, all comparisons are lame, but that shows that, at the present time, Vietnamese football does not have a truly outstanding star and this election is just "comparing chopsticks to choose a flagpole" as the familiar saying has long been said.

There are two statements by Mr. Philippe Troussier at two different times that need to be mentioned at this time. The first one, the French coach said before the 2023 ASIAN Cup took place, "Hoang Duc can win the Golden Ball, but I need him to try harder..." and the second recent statement is very noteworthy "The Vietnamese team does not have a good striker" more or less related to Tien Linh and Tuan Hai? These are not common or favorite statements of Vietnamese people, especially when related to top football stars. But for Europeans, for example, speaking frankly and honestly is always a daily thing. For Mr. Philippe Troussier, it is even more normal because he is assigned important responsibilities for both U23 Vietnam and the Vietnam National Team. Nearly a year of working with football players, practicing a lot, competing in real combat at SEA Games 32, at the ASIAN Cup, at the World Cup 2nd Qualifying Round… gave him a thorough and substantial view, of each individual as well as the whole, the collective.

With Hoang Duc, the talent of holding and keeping the ball, passing and changing positions, making passes, spectacular shots, scoring memorable goals... leaving an impression in the V-League has been recognized and highly appreciated. But according to Mr. Troussier, when joining the Vietnam National Team with a different way of operating, Hoang Duc must make more efforts, for example, playing faster, more cohesively and decisively to be suitable. If he were to play in the familiar midfield, Hoang Duc would have lost the ball and passed it sideways, leading to a goal in a friendly match against China. If Hoang Duc were to play as a center forward to find a goal, he could not prove anything. Therefore, Hoang Duc was on the bench and did not play a single minute in the matches against the Philippines and Iraq, and did not participate in the ASIAN Cup because of... injury.

Having received the Golden Ball award for the second time and having enough time to think and make efforts in a new direction, whether Hoang Duc will be trusted and reliable enough in the two decisive matches against Indonesia next March is still a difficult question to answer. After the loss to Indonesia in the ASIAN Cup, the pressure to use old pillars such as Hoang Duc, Hung Dung... will force Mr. Troussier to consider. But who can predict, predict a strong personality like Mr. Troussier even though the "sentence" of dismissal is increasingly appearing before the eyes of the French coach?

Tuan Hai’s story is clearer because whether he is voted for gold or silver, a position in the attack of the Vietnam National Team is not up for debate. Tuan Hai does not have to worry about “being good or not”, but he needs to make an effort to maintain a stable performance, avoiding the situation of winning one game, losing the other like he has been doing for a long time.

Each election is a time to honor the contributions of excellent players, an opportunity for them to continue to strive, to improve, first of all to assert themselves in the club and the national team. Currently, it goes without saying that almost immediately both Hoang Duc and Tuan Hai must quickly return to the club to help their teammates regain their original position in the V-League. Both The Cong Viettel and Hanoi FC are having a very difficult time this season, despite constantly changing coaches to change their fortunes, things have not gone anywhere.

Someone said jokingly, but it seems really worth pondering, that “Joy is short-lived” or “Joy is forced, lest…”. Indeed, how can Hoang Duc or Tuan Hai be happy forever, if the team still plays poorly and therefore still… sits on the bench of the Vietnam National Team because it is not suitable, not really trying as expected? Short-term joy, long-term worry is also in that sense./.