More quality options
Recently, goalkeeper Patrik Le Giang officially has Vietnamese citizenship, and also has the opportunity to be called up to the national team in the near future. Patrik Le Giang is a goalkeeper whose ability has been tested in the Vietnamese football environment. He has good physique, reasonable ability to enter and exit and maintain a stable playing frequency at the club level. Regularly playing in the V.League helps Patrik Le Giang understand the pace of competition, defense organization as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each person.
The appearance of Patrik Le Giang also created a direct competition for the goalkeeper position of the Vietnamese national team. Currently, goalkeeper Dinh Trieu is in high form. In addition to the title "Best Goalkeeper of ASEAN Cup 2024", he continues to play stably in the V.League in the colors of Hai Phong Club.
Meanwhile, Filip Nguyen's strength is his ability to play with his feet, good reflexes and experience playing in Europe. However, recently, the goalkeeper of Hanoi Police is going through a series of unstable matches. Dang Van Lam of Ninh Binh is still an experienced goalkeeper, having gone through many major tournaments and maintaining stability for a long time.
When Patrik Le Giang is eligible to wear the national team jersey, the goalkeeper position is no longer "default".
Coach Kim Sang-sik and the national team coaching staff will have another direct competition option, expanding the ability to rotate positions depending on opponents and tactical requirements. This forces goalkeepers to maintain their form if they want to keep a starting spot.
Opportunity for young goalkeeper
The competition is not only limited to the group of experienced goalkeepers but also the appearance of a group of young goalkeepers.
Trung Kien used to be the number 1 goalkeeper of U23 Vietnam, winning the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, SEA Games 33 Gold Medal and U23 Asian Championship Bronze Medal. The goalkeeper born in 2003 has good physique, good reflexes and has accumulated experience at the youth team level. Meanwhile, Cao Van Binh was given the opportunity to start in the third-place match of the Asian tournament and partly affirmed his ability.
In the domestic arena, Tran Trung Kien and Cao Van Binh are both pillars in the colors of Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Song Lam Nghe An, showing their ability to adapt to competitive pressure and have enough conditions to maintain stable form.
However, when the group of experienced goalkeepers still maintained their form and Patrik Le Giang joined the race, the opportunities for young goalkeepers were also more limited.
From the perspective of team management, having many quality goalkeepers helps the coaching staff be more proactive in personnel plans.
In the immediate future, the Vietnamese national team will gather again in early March to prepare for the match against Malaysia in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup. From now until the gathering time, coach Kim Sang-sik will directly watch the performance of the goalkeepers in the V.League to evaluate.
