In the first leg of the ASEAN Cup 2026 semi-final on the evening of August 16, the Vietnamese team faced a lot of pressure at Kuala Lumpur stadium. One of the notable situations occurred in the 61st minute, when Le Giang Patrik rushed out of the goal to prevent Malaysia's attack.
The referee immediately showed a red card to the Vietnamese national team goalkeeper. However, after consulting VAR, he changed his decision and canceled the red card.
Sharing after the match, Le Giang Patrik said he experienced a heart-stopping moment when the referee approached him.
Everything happened very quickly. He approached me and said sorry, I have to pull out a red card. However, luckily he checked the VAR and pulled out the red card again. The VAR saved me this time, I am very grateful for that," Le Giang Patrik said.
Continuing to play is of great significance to the Vietnamese team, especially at a time when Malaysia is putting strong pressure. The goalkeeper born in 1992 then made more notable saves, contributing to helping the away team keep a clean sheet.
I can continue to stand in the goal to support the whole team. Finally, we have won and brought victory to Vietnam," Le Giang Patrik shared.
Assessing the 2-0 victory, the Vietnamese national team goalkeeper said that this is a positive result in the context of having to play away and under great pressure from Malaysian fans.
Once again we won. This is a very difficult opponent to play against and especially the Vietnamese team has to play away from home. The pressure that Malaysian fans create is very great. The Malaysian team played well, continuously putting pressure, but luckily the Vietnamese team scored at the end of the first half.
With a 2-0 victory, that is a big advantage for the Vietnamese team. However, we have only gone halfway. The Vietnamese team needs to maintain focus, determination and bring joy of victory to a large number of home fans," Le Giang Patrik emphasized.
The 2-0 victory helps the Vietnamese team create a great advantage before the second leg semi-final match against Malaysia at My Dinh Stadium on August 19. However, Le Giang Patrik believes that the whole team still needs to maintain focus to complete the goal of reaching the ASEAN Cup 2026 final.
