Trần Anh Khoa (28 July 1991 – 4 December 2024) was a Vietnamese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career

Born in

Đà Nẵng Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...

, Anh Khoa was a youth product of

SHB Đà Nẵng SHB Đà Nẵng Football Club (), simply known as SHB Đà Nẵng, is a Vietnamese professional football club based in Da Nang that plays in V.League 1, the top tier in Vietnamese football, . The club was formerly known as Quang Nam-Da Nang () ...

. He was promoted to the first team in 2013, playing in the

V.League 1 The V.League 1 (), also called LPBank V.League 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football league in Vietnam, controlled by the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF). It is contested by 14 clubs who play each ...

. He made his debut for the team in the 2012 Vietnamese Super Cup final, coming in as a late substitute as his team won the title.

Injury and retirement

In a match of 2015 V.League 1 on 13 September 2015 between

and Sông Lam Nghệ An, Anh Khoa was dribbling into the box at the 21st minute when Quế Ngọc Hải committed a dangerous and reckless tackle to stop him. Ngọc Hải was only shown a yellow card by the referee but Anh Khoa had to be substituted and suffered serious injury to his knee ligaments and leg bone because of the tackle. Ngọc Hải was later suspended for six months for all football-related activities, and was ordered to pay the roughly 800 million đồng for Anh Khoa's medical expenses. Anh Khoa was expected to remain injured for 12 to 18 months and had to travel to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

for surgery. Doctors said that there was only a 50% chance of Anh Khoa recovering enough to play professional football again. After many operations, he retired from professional football in 2017. After his retirement, Anh Khoa remained at SHB Đà Nẵng, coaching the team's youth categories.

Personal life and death

Anh Khoa married his longtime girlfriend in 2018, but the couple later divorced. Anh Khoa died by suicide at his home in

Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...

, on 4 December 2024, at the age of 33.

Honours

SHB Đà Nẵng *

Vietnamese Super Cup Vietnamese National Football Super Cup (), also called the Thaco National Football Super Cup due to sponsorship reasons, is Vietnamese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous V.League 1 season and the holders of th ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

1991 births 2024 deaths 2024 suicides Sportspeople from Da Nang Vietnamese men's footballers 21st-century Vietnamese sportsmen Men's association football midfielders V.League 1 players SHB Da Nang FC players Suicides in Vietnam {{Vietnam-footy-bio-stub