"One of four central midfielders on our list, the 23-year-old has been touted as the next star of Vietnamese football. Seven interceptions and four clearances speak to his role defensively whilst he's also had a very impressive 86 percent passing accuracy, seven key passes, a goal and two assists going forward," the AFF Cup official website notes.

Nguyen Hoang Duc dribbles in the second leg of the AFF Cup semifinal between Vietnam and Thailand on December 26, 2021.

The other nominations are: Kevin Hansen (the Philippines), Song Ui-young (Singapore), Ricky Kambuaya (Indonesia), Kogileswaran Raj (Malaysia) and Phitiwat Sukjtthammakul (Thailand).

Duc is one of the most promising talents in Vietnamese football at the moment. He has been a regular starter for the national team since June, including World Cup qualifiers and AFF Cup matches.

At the AFF Cup this year, Vietnam played impressively in the group stage, winning three games and drawing one with no goal conceded. However, they lost 0-2 to Thailand in the first leg of the semifinal and crashed out of the tournament with a goalless draw in the second leg. Thailand and Indonesia will clash in the finals.

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Source: VnExpress