Tai Em tipped to win Golden Ball amid crisis

Phan Van Tai Em is highly favoured to win the Golden Ball title for the most outstanding football player of the year.

The vote, which was on the verge of being cancelled on account of the recent match fixing scandal surrounding the Philippines SEA Games, will be hosted by Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) Newspaper.

The Gach Dong Tam-Long An (GDT-LA) player, Tai Em, who led Viet Nam to the finals in last December”s Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines, came in third in 2004″s Golden Ball title race.

Tai Em also helped GDT-LA win the top-flight V-League title for the first time last year although he had to undergo two operations and played in a weakened state. He still managed to score regardless and helped GDT-LA take the league title and then the National Cup title.

Le Tan Tai, Tai Em”s U-23 teammate, is another favourite for the title on account of his contribution to the SEA Games” second place rating and promoting Khatoco Khanh Hoa to the V-League after winning last year”s First Division.

Another strong contender, Le Cong Vinh, who plays for V-League”s Pjico Song Lam Nghe An, topped the scoring board with five goals at the SEA Games and was voted best player on the Vietnamese SEA Games” team.

Tan Tai, who also refused to involve himself in the game fixing, is against two Song Da Nam Dinh”s players, Nguyen Van Bien and Hoang Ngoc Linh, for the Best Young Player.

The Foreign Player of the Year is tilted towards Binh Duong”s striker Kesley Alves, chased by newly-crowned champions GDT-LA”s brothers Carlos and Antonio Rodrigues.

“We are going through the worst crisis in football, in which many young talents have been spoilt, but that does not mean we do not have good players,” said Viet Nam Football Federation”s (VFF) general director Tran Quoc Tuan. “The Golden Ball titles will surely encourage players to compete fairly in games.”

The game fixing disgrace, the most scandalous in the country”s football history, has put leading striker Pham Van Quyen and three mid fielders from the under-23 team that represented Viet Nam at the SEA Games, in prison.

Tai Em, who captained the team in Philippines, was the first player to report the fixing plot to the team”s leaders after refusing to fix the match with Quyen and Vuong.

Vuong and Huynh Quoc Anh, now under police detention, were expected to be potential talents to spearhead a new generation of Vietnamese footballers. But their involvement in the recent scandal has put an end to their budding careers.

While the men”s side performed badly at the SEA Games, the women”s side continued their good form to clinch the SEA Games for the third time in a row. And the women”s Golden Ball title race promises interesting as most women did well in the Philippines.

The results will be known later this month after nationwide coaches, experts and sport journalists cast their votes.

(VNS)