The Vietnamese team had their first victory at the ASEAN Cup (formerly known as the AFF Cup) 2024. Despite facing many difficulties in the first 45 minutes, coach Kim Sang-sik's players defeated their opponents with a score of 4-1, thanks to goals from Hai Long, Tien Linh, Van Toan and Van Vi.
Notably, in this match, the Korean coach chose goalkeeper Nguyen Dinh Trieu in the Vietnamese team's goal, instead of Nguyen Filip. This also made many fans question, because in fact, Filip has the best professional level and skills among the 3 goalkeepers and is maintaining stable performance.
However, from the perspective of coach Kim Sang-sik, he has reasons to make this decision.
It is very possible that Mr. Kim Sang-sik wants to give Dinh Trieu a chance to show off, also as a psychological and professional test of the goalkeeper of Hai Phong club.
Dinh Trieu himself has not had the opportunity to debut for the Vietnamese national team in previous official and friendly matches. Therefore, the Korean coach created conditions for him to have his first match as a starting goalkeeper for the national team.
In the first half, although the Lao team created some dangerous opportunities, in reality, the Lao players' attacking tactics and finishing ability were limited and Nguyen Dinh Trieu did his job well.
In the second half, the goalkeeper born in 1991 continued to play steadily. However, at the end of the match, he made a mistake when passing the ball up, creating an opportunity for the opponent, forcing Duy Manh to foul a Lao player in the penalty area and the Vietnamese team was awarded a penalty.
Overall, Dinh Trieu's performance on his debut for the Vietnam national team was quite good. He saved his team a few more times from the opponent's shots.
In addition, another advantage of Dinh Trieu over Nguyen Filip is the ability to communicate with teammates. The overseas Vietnamese goalkeeper's Vietnamese is not good, so he has some difficulty in exchanging information and commanding the defense.
This could also be the reason why coach Kim Sang-sik wants Filip Nguyen to have more time to prepare mentally.
In the next match, Vietnam will host Indonesia at home in Viet Tri (Phu Tho). Against a higher-class opponent, goalkeeper Filip Nguyen is likely to play.
