Midfielder Nguyễn Quang Hải is in the shortlist of five candidates for the Golden Ball award. Photo thethao247.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Golden Ball Award 2019’s organising board announced its shortlist of contenders for Vietnamese football's most prestigious awards on Sunday.

Midfielder Nguyễn Quang Hải, defender Đoàn Văn Hậu, midfielder Đỗ Hùng Dũng, striker Nguyễn Văn Quyết and midfielder Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng will compete for the top award, the Golden Ball title.

Four players of the players are under contract at the V.League 1’s defending champions Hà Nội FC, while Hoàng plays for Viettel.

Hải is the favourite to scoop the award, however an injury at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games late last year meant he was unable to contribute much in the Việt Nam U22 team's historic victory.

Ggoalkeeper Trần Thị Kim Thanh, defender Chương Thị Kiều, midfielder Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung and strikers Huỳnh Như and Phạm Hải Yến (Hà Nội) are competing for the women's Golden Ball award.

Defender Đoàn Văn Hậu, who is on loan at SC Heerenveen in the Netherlands, will vie for the best male young player award alongside Nguyễn Hoàng Đức, Nguyễn Văn Toản and Trần Danh Trung.

While the best female young player award is a fight between Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Ngân, Cù Thị Huỳnh Như and Ngân Thị Vạn Sự.

In the futsal Golden Ball category, all five players are from Thái Sơn Nam Club who won bronze in the Asian Clubs Championship 2019. They are Phạm Đức Hòa, Trần Thái Huy, Nguyễn Minh Trí, Trần Văn Vũ and Hồ Văn Ý.

The organising board decided to give the devotion awards to coaches Park Hang-seo and Mai Đức Chung for their contributions to Vietnamese football.

The U22 men's team beat Indonesia to take the SEA Games’ gold medal after years of waiting, while the women defended their title against Thailand.

The Việt Nam Golden Ball Award 2019 will be held at HCM City Theatre at 7pm on February 13. VNS