Xuan Son Shares Injury Status at Golden Ball Awards

At the 2024 Vietnam Golden Ball Awards on February 26, 2025, Nguyen Xuan Son (formerly Rafaelson) won "Best Foreign Player." He scored 31 goals in the 2024-2025 V-League season, leading Nam Dinh FC to the national championship.

In September 2024, he became a Vietnamese citizen and joined the national team for the AFF Cup, contributing seven goals and two

. Vietnam remained , and Xuan Son was named "Top Scorer" and "Best Player."

However, in the AFF Cup final against Thailand on January 5, 2025, he

a serious right leg injury. After surgery, he is expected to recover in nine months. Now, he can move lightly without .

At the

, he thanked the audience in Vietnamese and expressed his desire to return to the field soon.