HCM CITY — It’s a match that would fill the pages of any gossip magazine the world over. Footballer meets singer, falls in love and gets married.

Now former Vietnamese star Lê Công Vinh will reveal more of his life in a recently-released autobiography about his life and relationship with singer, singer Thủy Tiên.

Entitled Phút 89 (Minute 89), the book will tell the readers Vinh’s memories of his childhood as a skinny boy living in the rural area of the central province of Nghệ An until he became a famous footballer across the nation and had his own family.

Other darker issues that have troubled the game, like match-fixing scandals or violence, are also mentioned in Minute 89.

“There would be no other truths that I’m keeping for myself. If there is any, they would be soon revealed in my upcoming path and in my next autobiography,” said Vinh in the recent press conference introducing the book.

The 32-year-old former striker is donating the proceeds of his book to charity..

“The autobiography does not aim at criticising anyone but contains my true stories,” he added.

“I also want to inspire other children nationwide, who came from similar background like mine, dare to dream and action to obtain their dreams.”

Minute 89 is divided into 26 chapters printed on 295 pages, transcribed by journalist Trần Minh. It will be put for sale on the distribution channels of Phương Nam Book. Journalist Trần Minh has also been the translator of two memoirs, Mike Tyson – Undisputed Truth and I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Vinh was born in Quỳnh Lưu District in Nghệ An Province. He used to play for Sông Lam Nghệ An, Hà Nội T&T, Hà Nội and Bình Dương football clubs. Besides domestic clubs, he used to play for several international clubs for short terms.

He became part of Việt Nam’s National Football Team in 2004 and became the leading scorer a year later. His career reached its peak when Việt Nam won the AFF Cup in 2008. He has worn the national jersey for 85 times, scoring 51 goals.

The striker has won the Vietnamese golden ball awards three times in 2004, 2006 and 2007 and won the championship of the national tournament in the jersey of Bình Dương FC in 2015. He was deputy manager of HCM City FC in 2017, but resigned to open his own football institute, CV9. — VNS