Recently, on his personal page, goalkeeper Nguyen Filip posted a picture of himself sitting alone on the bench for both the Vietnam national team and the Hanoi Police club.
He shared: "There is no sadness here, everyone. This is simply my habit before every match, whether I play or not. Wish everyone a happy weekend."
This is the first time the goalkeeper born in 1992 has spoken out after rumors that he was unhappy about being on the bench at the 2024 ASEAN Cup. At the recent tournament, Nguyen Filip was predicted to be the number 1 choice in the goal of the Vietnamese team.
However, coach Kim Sang-sik decided to put more faith in Nguyen Dinh Trieu. Filip Nguyen only played in 2 out of 8 matches of the Vietnam team in the 2024 ASEAN Cup (a 1-0 win over Indonesia and a 1-1 draw with the Philippines). Since the draw with the Philippines, the goalkeeper of the Hanoi Police team had to sit on the bench until the "Golden Star Warriors" lifted the championship trophy.
Since then, the media has paid more attention to Nguyen Filip. The image of this goalkeeper sitting alone on the bench has spread widely on social networks.
Fans believe that, although he left Europe to return to Vietnam to play for the national team, Nguyen Filip is now lost and cannot hide his sadness at having to constantly be on the bench. However, this goalkeeper has spoken up to clarify the story.
In an interview with Lao Dong after the ASEAN Cup 2024, a VFF leader shared: "The story of selecting personnel for competition is the head coach's decision. Those who are not selected also have difficulty avoiding their own emotions.
However, Nguyen Filip has a very unique style. I observed very carefully, before each match, when going out to warm up, this goalkeeper always goes to the goal area to touch each post, crossbar, net, checking each position very carefully. I understand that Nguyen Filip does this to get the feeling and prepare everything whether he plays or not.
Nguyen Filip has lived in Europe, so this player's personality is also very unique. But under coach Kim Sang-sik, the Vietnamese team is a collective that is as close as a family from daily activities to competitions. Nguyen Filip is always sociable, joining in stories or jokes with his teammates. He is a very professional player."
Nguyen Filip joined the Hanoi Police Club in June 2023 and started playing for the Vietnam national team in January 2024 at the 2023 Asian Cup. It is known that the contract between this player and the Police team still has a year and a half left.
In a recent interview with the Czech Republic media (December 15, right after Vietnam's 1-0 victory over Indonesia in the ASEAN Cup - the match Nguyen Filip started as), he revealed that he set a goal to play in Japan and Korea in the future, then end his career with a team in the Czech Republic.
