A... very good year of Dinh Bac
The Vietnam national team in 2025 does not have many outstanding individuals expected. The ASEAN Cup championship right in Thailand left the mark of striker Nguyen Xuan Son, however, the injury caused this naturalized striker to take a long break, and he was not on the nomination list.
Meanwhile, in the Asian Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese team has not left much of an impression as there is no truly outstanding individual to be able to surpass the remaining candidates in the nomination list. The election of the 2025 Vietnam Golden Ball title in the current context is forced to "competate with chopsticks" to choose the flagpole.
Therefore, the success of the youth team at the recent SEA Games, or the 2025 U23 Southeast Asian tournament, is a plus point for young players to gain the trust of the votes.
Former striker Nguyen Dinh Bac is therefore expected to create competition with other seniors in the race for the title of Vietnam Golden Ball 2025.
Dinh Bac competing at the club level had a successful season with the Hanoi Police team. This young striker is also often trusted in the national team jersey. It was Dinh Bac's explosion as the leader that brought the gold medal in football at the 33rd SEA Games to Vietnam Sports.
Before that, the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament, the Vietnam U23 tournament won the championship and Dinh Bac was honored as the Best Player.
Dinh Bac's individual and collective successes have helped him score points in this race.
What title for Dinh Bac
Setting a striker born in 2004 like Dinh Bac compared to his seniors who were honored in the highest category of the Vietnam Golden Ball race may be a bit forced. But it is undeniable that Dinh Bac's influence and remarkable progress in the past year.
From a player considered a "star disease", the striker from Nghe An has changed day by day, perfected himself and become an irreplaceable pillar of the U23 Vietnam team.
Dinh Bac and his teammate Hieu Minh in the U23 Vietnam competition are the two names nominated in the category of the 2025 Vietnam Golden Ball and the category of Best Young Men's Player.
However, Dinh Bac is much better than Hieu Minh to receive points from experts holding the ballot in the category of Best Young Men's Player of the Year.
Therefore, if he fails in the race for the top 3 awards of the 2025 Vietnam Golden Ball, Dinh Bac will still have that motivation as he is a name likely to be honored in the category of Best Young Men's Player of the Year.
It would be a total loss for Dinh Bac if this striker born in 2004 had a "double" title at the 2025 Vietnam Golden Ball Awards Gala. That is to be in the top 3 nominations and named in the category of Best Young Men's Player of the Year. This will be a great spiritual motivation in Dinh Bac's career.
The men's Golden Ball category, shortlisted list includes 5 players: Nguyen Tien Linh, Nguyen Quang Hai, Nguyen Dinh Bac, Nguyen Hoang Duc and Tran Trung Kien.
