On the journey so far - from the roster call-up stage to winning the 2024 ASEAN Championship, the goalkeeper position is one of the most concerned issues in the Vietnam National Team. According to the order of experts - even coach Kim Sang-sik and the coaching staff imagine, Nguyen Filip is the number 1 choice, followed by Dang Van Lam and Nguyen Dinh Trieu.
However, due to Van Lam's injury, young goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien was called up, leaving Dinh Trieu as the second choice. Nguyen Filip's position did not change. But the story became more interesting when entering the tournament, when the Korean coach placed Dinh Trieu as the starting goalkeeper in the opening match. The move was understood to mean that, first, the Lao team was not strong enough, so the Thai Binh goalkeeper was given a chance to play, while Nguyen Filip was saving his energy for the decisive match against the Indonesian team.
In fact, he was the starting goalkeeper in that important match and won for the first time in the Vietnam national team shirt. The 32-year-old goalkeeper continued in the starting lineup against the Philippines, but since that 1-1 draw, Dinh Trieu has been number 1, leading the team to the championship.
The reason for choosing Dinh Trieu is because he can communicate better with the defenders. Of course, speaking Vietnamese is an advantage for the goalkeeper playing for Hai Phong club, but is the problem really about communication and language?
It is true that Nguyen Filip cannot speak Vietnamese fluently, but he can certainly speak English. And as the defenders of the team shared about what they said to Supachok Sarachat (Thailand) and the referee, it seems that their English is enough to communicate with their teammates and not to the point of being “two parallel lines, not understanding each other”!?
The players themselves - during training, also find ways to communicate properly both on and off the field. Therefore, it is thought that communication may not be the main reason. Of course, there is no need to dig deeper, but clearly, Mr. Kim Sang-sik's headache will continue with the return of Van Lam - who shone in the recent National Cup match...
