Coach Kim Sang-sik's move
Rarely in the past 5 years, U22 and the Vietnam National Team have gathered at the North and South ends. Therefore, coach Kim Sang-sik had to divide the assistant teams to serve the different tasks of the two teams.
On March 10, before moving to Binh Duong, the Korean strategist focused on watching U22 Vietnam practice for the first session under the guidance of assistant Dinh Hong Vinh. After that, Mr. Kim decided to " rotate" goalkeeper coach Lee Won-jae from the Vietnam National Team to the Vietnam U22 team.
According to many sources, coach Kim Sang-sik wants to promote the training and coaching skills of assistant Lee Won-jae in correcting the young goalkeepers of U22 Vietnam. After the first 2 days of practice, inexperienced faces such as Ho Tung Han, Nguyen Tan and Cao Van Binh were meticulously instructed. Every movement from dropping people, observing, moving out of the penalty area or ball-catching posture in the face of the opponent's aerial battles... was carefully instructed by Mr. Lee to his students.
In another aspect, the above decision also shows that coach Kim Sang-sik is quite confident in the position of goalkeeper of the Vietnam National Team, even though he does not have the services of Dang Van Lam and Nguyen Filip.
Currently, the national team has Nguyen Dinh Trieu with stable performance in the goal. In addition, Tran Trung Kien and Nguyen Van Viet also regularly play in the V.League in the colors of Hoang Anh Gia Lai or Song Lam Nghe An.
Dinh Trieu is number 1
It would not be surprising if Nguyen Dinh Trieu is the number 1 goalkeeper in the Vietnam National Team at the moment. Even with Nguyen Filip or Dang Van Lam present, perhaps Mr. Kim's choice still leans towards the goalkeeper of Hai Phong club. In addition to affirming his ability and winning the title of Best Goalkeeper of the ASEAN Cup 2024, Dinh Trieu is in very good form in the V.League recently.
If Nguyen Filip conceded a significant goal for Hanoi Police in the recent rounds, or Dang Van Lam only played in the First Division without competition, Dinh Trieu was an important factor in helping Hai Phong win the last 4 victories in all competitions. He kept a clean sheet in the matches of the Hai Phong team against Hong Linh Ha Tinh, Da Nang, Thanh Hoa and only conceded 1 goal in the match against Quang Nam.
The above opponents of Hai Phong are all very difficult. Thanh Hoa has been the champion of the National Cup for 2 consecutive seasons; Hong Linh Ha Tinh was unbeaten in the first leg before meeting Hai Phong in the opening match of the second leg; Quang Nam and Da Nang both competed fiercely with the home team at Lach Tray Stadium in the relegation battle. That said, Dinh Trieu's solidity contributed to Hai Phong's good results, from being second to 8th on the V.League 2024-2025 rankings as well as reaching the quarter-finals of the National Cup.
On average, in Hai Phong's last 4 wins, Dinh Trieu has 4 saves/match. In each match, he had at least one excellent reflex in front of the opponent's close-range shots. Dinh Trieu is not the type of goalkeeper who plays well with his feet like Nguyen Filip, but in return, he emphasizes safety with powerful punches, enough to solve a chaotic situation in the penalty area. That is also the reason why coach Kim Sang-sik believes in Dinh Trieu at the ASEAN Cup 2024, even though he still has a classy goalkeeper Nguyen Filip.
In the context of the current competitors in the Vietnam National Team, Trung Kien and Van Viet, who are still young, it is not surprising if Mr. Kim continues to put his trust in Dinh Trieu's hands in the two upcoming matches against Cambodia and Laos.
