The 2018 AFF Championship came to its conclusion with Vietnam capturing their second ever title, on December 15, after defeating Malaysia 3-2 on aggregate in the final.
For the past week Goal has nominated the tournament's best players, young players, head coaches and best XI, by collecting the opinions of our five Southeast Asian editions; Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore, as well as the choices of each edition's editors.
These are the results!
BEST PLAYER AND BEST YOUNG PLAYER
So good was he in the tournament, that Vietnam's Nguyen Quang Hai has bagged both of the awards. The 21-year old was the source of the Golden Stars' creativity, having made eight appearances, as well as three goals and two assists. He head earlier shined in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, helping Vietnam reach the competition's final and scoring five goals.
Most of our editors share the readers' choice in selecting Quang Hai as the best player, with the same situation also happening for the best young player award.
As he is still 21, the region is surely now observing his further progress.
BEST HEAD COACH
No prize for guessing; a majority of the voters shared Southeast Asian Goal editors' opinions! Hang-seo succeeded in guiding his team to glory, after their three-time semi-final finish, following their last title win in 2008. Furthermore, he has also succeeded in taking his charges beyond the region, to compete at the continental stage.
The South Korean will next guide the Golden Stars in the 2019 Asian Cup, in January.
How the winners were selected:
- The polling for the 2018 AFF Championship involved Goal readers and editors from our five Southeast Asian editions: Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore.
- The polling weightage is 50-50.
- The nomination with the most readers votes received 25 points, the second best reader-voted player received 15, and the third bagged 10.
- Each editor then made their selections from the three choices. The first pick received 5 points (from each edition), the second 3, while the third received 2.
Follow Goal Malaysia's Instagram account for videos and photos!
