Luong Xuan Truong wants to regain his position; Messi wins The Best 2019 award

FIFA Player of the Year

This is the sixth time Messi has won this award, after winning in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015. The Argentine striker had an excellent season last year, helping Barca win La Liga and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. He personally won the European Golden Shoe with 54 goals in 58 matches in all competitions. At the team level, Messi and Argentina lost in the semi-finals of the Copa America to Brazil.

Van Dijk helped Liverpool win the European Championship and was awarded the UEFA Player of the Year award. However, the Dutch centre-back only finished second in the vote for the FIFA Men's Player of the Year 2019. This was a somewhat unfortunate result for Van Dijk because he played very well and was the foundation of Liverpool's success last season.

Ronaldo did not attend The Best awards ceremony in Milan on the evening of September 23. The Juventus star finished third in the vote after helping Juventus win Serie A and was the club's top scorer in all competitions. Ronaldo also won the Nations League with Portugal.

Messi received 46 points compared to Van Dijk's 38 and Ronaldo's 36 in the final round of voting. FIFA consulted coaches, captains of national teams and prestigious journalists around the world. The voting criteria were based on the players' achievements from July 16, 2018 to August 19, 2019.

In the women's category, Megan Rapinoe won the Best Player award after helping the United States win the World Cup. She beat compatriot Alex Morgan and England international Lucy Bronze in the vote.

Xuan Truong wants to regain his position

"My goal is to be a starter in the national team. I will try my best for this," Luong Xuan Truong shared on the afternoon of September 23, before the first training session of the Vietnamese team, preparing for the matches against Malaysia and Indonesia in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia.

Luong Xuan Truong practices with the Vietnamese team at the VFF Youth Training Center on the afternoon of September 23. Photo: Lam Thoa.

Xuan Truong shone and played the entire 2018 AFC U23 Championship, contributing greatly to Vietnam winning the Silver Medal. However, the midfielder from Tuyen Quang then lost his form, leading to losing his starting position in the following tournaments: Asiad, AFF Cup and Asian Cup. In the opening match against Thailand in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in September, he was also not allowed to play.

Speaking to the press on September 23, Coach Park Hang-seo talked about the possibility of bringing overseas Vietnamese players to the Vietnam national team in the near future: “I often discuss this issue with the federation. The first issue is whether those players want to have Vietnamese nationality or not. Even if they do, the next thing will be the procedures and time to complete it.”

Filip Nguyen has many opportunities to be called up to the Vietnam national team. Photo: Getty.

“The second problem is that when I met them, I saw that there were people who could not speak a word of Vietnamese even though their father or mother was Vietnamese. They were not born in Vietnam but were born abroad, so I think it is difficult for them to understand Vietnamese culture. Their bodies still have Vietnamese blood but their thinking is completely European, their thinking is also foreign. Therefore, I doubt the difference in thinking and language when they integrate into the Vietnamese team,” Mr. Park explained.