Quick Facts
Biography
Phan Văn Tài Em (born April 23, 1982 in Châu Thành District, Long An) is a retired Vietnamese footballer who last played as a midfielder for Đồng Tâm Long An. He was a member of the Vietnam national football team. He was awarded as the Vietnamese Golden Ball in 2005.
Discovered by Henrique Calisto in 2002, he, since then, has become a regular starter in the national team. He has played for the U-23 Vietnam in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games and 2007 Southeast Asian Games. In 2007, he was chosen to play for the national team in the 2007 Asian Cup.
In 2008, Em, along with Nguyễn Minh Phương has captained Vietnam to win the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup.
He has spent most of his career in Gach Đồng Tâm Long An and he had considered a move to Navibank Sài Gòn F.C.
After the retirement of Nguyễn Minh Phương, Tai Em was handed over the captain band of the Vietnam national football team by the new coach Falko Goetz.
In September 2016 Văn Tài Em announced that he was retiring from football.