Lê Công Vinh

Sông Lam Nghệ An

Born in Nghệ An, Vinh is a well known Vietnamese footballer. Vinh is widely considered the one of the best strikers that Sông Lam Nghệ An has ever produced, along with Phạm Văn Quyến. He is currently SLNA's all-time top goal scorer.

Hà Nội T&T

In 2008, after a well-documented transfer saga, Vinh turned down Thể Công at the last minute to accept a more lucrative offer from Hà Nội T&T; it was the highest transfer fee in Vietnamese football at the time.

Leixões S.C.

At the beginning of August 2009, T&T announced that Vinh would be joining Leixões Sport Club of Portugal in a three-month loan deal, starting 1 September 2009. The deal was facilitated by Henrique Calisto, who was once Leixões' manager.

On 24 August 2009, Vinh officially signed with Leixões and was given the number 29 shirt. Two days later, in a friendly match against Padroense F.C., he scored his first goal for the club, as a substitute, in the 89th minute to secure a 2–0 win. He was included in the 18-man squad for the match against defending champions F.C. Porto on 12 September, but did not make the field in an eventual 1–4 loss. His first-team debut came on 4 October, in a league contest against União de Leiria, making him the first ever Vietnamese footballer to play in a professional European league; he played the entire ninety minutes in an eventual 3–2 home win, despite trailing for most of the game.

On 18 October 2009, Vinh scored his first official goal for Leixões, in a 2–1 Portuguese Cup win against Casa Pia AC. In January of the following year, he returned to Hà Nội T&T.

Hà Nội FC

Le Cong Vinh made the move from T&T to its city rivals Hà Nội FC in September 2011. Vinh was set to sign a three-year extension with T&T but decided to move to ACB after the controversial 2011 V-League season and the set up at ACB.

Sông Lam Nghệ An

After Hà Nội FC was dissolved following the 2012 season, Công Vinh began the long process of finding a new club. After turning down trial offers from Sriwijaya of the Indonesia Super League and Consadole Sapporo of the J. League Division 2, he settled with a one-year loan move back to Sông Lam Nghệ An.

Consadole Sapporo

After failed negotiations earlier in the 2013 V.League 1 season, Le Cong Vinh announced he would join J2 League side Consadole Sapporo on loan on 22 July 2013. His time with Consadole is scheduled to last five months from August 2013 through 1 January 2014. However, he decided to return Vietnam one month earlier than expected because Consadole Sapporo could not go to the play-off match. During his four months stay in Japan, he managed to score twices in 9 appearance for the club.

Becamex Bình Dương

In a game against Xi Măng Hải Phòng FC on 27 April 2015 Công Vinh set the record for the fastest goal ever scored in Vietnamese football as he put the ball in the net with barely ten seconds played. Bình Dương kicked off the match with Công Vinh latching on to a quick pass to chip the ball over goalkeeper Nguyễn Thanh Thắng in an eventual 3-1 win.

International career

In the first group match of the 2007 Asian Cup, Vinh scored the second goal for Vietnam to secure a 2–0 victory against United Arab Emirates; the team eventually reached the quarterfinals, before falling to eventual champions Iraq.

After a quiet and much criticised performance in the group stage in the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup, Vinh came through in the elimination stage. He set up the only goal in a 1–0 upset of defending champions Singapore. In the first leg of the final, Vinh scored the second to give Vietnam a victory against Thailand in Bangkok.

In the second leg, Vinh set off a wild celebration throughout Vietnam as he headed home the tying goal in the last minute time to give Vietnam the first ever ASEAN Football Championship title.

After the 2016 AYA Bank Cup, Vinh announced that he would retire from international football after the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup. If only the Vietnamese national squad able to qualify for the finals in the 2016 edition, Vinh said that he will think twice about his retirement as he received request from international clubs to play in their league for the 2017 edition, but as the deep wounds to his heart was too severe to heal as Vietnam unable to qualify the AFF finals for the third time since the 2008 edition, Vinh decide to officially retire shortly after the end of the match against Indonesia in the 2016 semi-finals.

International goals

Playing style

Vinh is widely considered one of the best players in South-East Asia. He is known for his exceptionally quick first step, having played in the traditional forward as well as the second striker role.

Additionally, Vinh has stated that he idolises Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo, two of the best wingers in modern football. His favourite approach is to attack the box from both flanks and attempt to strike or create scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Honours

In 2009, Vinh ranked number five on Goal.com's Top Ten Most Promising Youngsters in Asian Football. In March 2009, he was given the Vietnamese Bronze Ball 2008, also holding the record for most goals scored in a single season by a Vietnamese player in the V-League for several seasons. By May 2010, he was the top Vietnamese goal-scorer in the league's history, also ranking second in the all-time top scorers table. On 22 March 2014, Vinh became the first player of the Vietnam football league to score 100 goals when Sông Lam Nghệ An F.C. won 3–1 against Hải Phòng F.C..

Personal life

Rumors surfaced in early 2009 that Vinh had been dating Vietnamese singer Thuỷ Tiên as they were spotted together on multiple occasions. During an interview before leaving Vietnam to join Leixões, Vinh revealed to the press that he and the singer are in fact a couple. They became engaged two years later. The couple welcomed their first child, a daughter in January 2013.

International

Vietnam U23

Vietnam

Manager

After announced his official retirement from professional football, Le cong vinh joined Ho Chi Minh City FC, he was appointed as the deputy manager of the club.

Individuals