V-League 2018: "Foreign King" is crowned again

Last year, the race for the Golden Boot between three names: Nguyen Anh Duc (B.Binh Duong - 14 goals), Nsi (XSKT Can Tho - 14 goals) and Errol Stevens (Hai Phong - 14 goals) was extremely exciting.

The hat-tricks of the season only took place within 45 minutes, including 2 goals from penalty kicks (??!) against Sanna Khanh Hoa BVN, helping striker Nguyen Anh Duc of B.Binh Duong win the Golden Boot of the 2017 season.

More impressively, with 16 goals, this striker became the first Vietnamese player in 15 years where the "Top Scorer" title was dominated by foreign players and naturalized strikers. Striker Dyachenko of Than Quang Ninh scored 7 goals in just 2 matches, from the 25th to the 26th match and finished second.

Absence of domestic players

The top 3 scorers of this season are Oseni Ganiyu Bolaji (17 goals), Hoang Vu O.Samson, Teofilo Soares Eydison (both 15 goals) and Toure Youssouf (14 goals); there is no sign of any domestic players. Striker Tien Linh of B.Binh Duong is leading the list of Vietnamese players scoring (13 goals), Cong Phuong of HAGL (12 goals) are both too far behind Oseni while there is only 1 match left in the season.

Tien Linh is the best domestic striker in V-League at present. Photo: Internet

First of all, it must be said that Tien Linh and Cong Phuong will find it difficult to catch up and surpass Oseni's 17 goals, while Van Quyet has 13 assists so far, ranking second on the list. Perhaps there will be a confrontation between Tien Linh and Cong Phuong when they will face each other at Go Dau Stadium of B.Binh Duong.

Right after these two players, Ha Duc Chinh, Van Duc, Quang Hai all have 9 goals, ranking 3rd on the list. The most regrettable case is Van Duc, due to 2 injuries, the SLNA striker could not increase his goal tally above 9. Van Duc's playing style is considered quite comprehensive, intelligent and not picky about the ball.

If we consider the FIFA scoring criteria for the importance of goals, Tien Linh and Cong Phuong have 6 opening goals, followed by Van Duc with 4 goals. Young striker Tien Linh is the most effective striker, in his 13 goals, there are no penalty goals; meanwhile, Cong Phuong has only 4 goals.

Roll call of great foreign soldiers

There is no doubt about it,Oseni Ganiyu Bolaji and Hoang Vu O.Samson are the two most effective strikers in V-League 2018. In terms of effectiveness, Hoang Vu O.Samson is the most "promising" striker of the season. After returning from an unsuccessful debut in Thai-League 1, this naturalized player only needed 13 appearances, many of which were from the bench, but he already had 15 goals. His teammate Oseni needed 20 matches to score 17 goals.

Oseni Ganiyu Bolaji - No. 1 candidate for the season's Golden Boot. Photo: Internet

It is expected that assist king Nghiem Xuan Tu with 17 times having a hand in Than Quang Ninh's goals will help Eydison catch up and surpass Oseni in the race for the Golden Boot title.

In the next match, Than Quang Ninh will play at Hoa Xuan Stadium with the host SHB.Da Nang, who also has no more goals to strive for. Surely, this will be an open match between the two teams and the opportunity for Eydison will be easier than Oseni Ganiyu Bolaji and Hoang Vu O.Samson playing at Lach Tray Stadium.

Observing the way coach Chu Dinh Nghiem uses foreign players, it is easy to see that Hanoi FC does not use all means to win the titles of the season.

After winning the championship, Oseni and Hoang Vu O.Samson often played as substitutes, giving young players a chance to gain experience. Hanoi also did not prioritize Oseni in penalty kicks like HAGL. This was an opportunity for Eydison, even Y. Touré of S.Khanh Hoa to rise up, although the chances were not many.

An Thanh