"Win without fighting"
Since June 2024, coach Kim Sang-sik has been balancing the opportunity to play as the main goalkeeper in the Vietnam national team for two goalkeepers Nguyen Filip and Dang Van Lam. The Korean coach does not "offend" anyone when the two Vietnamese goalkeepers have equal skills and class. Besides, Mr. Kim also wants more time to carefully evaluate who is better between Nguyen Filip and Van Lam to take on the role of number 1 goalkeeper of the national team, especially in important matches at the regional and continental levels.
In the past matches of the Vietnamese team, the performances of Dang Van Lam and Nguyen Filip were quite balanced, from excellent saves to... mistakes leading to goals. While coach Kim Sang-sik was still "comparing chopsticks, choosing the flagpole", objective factors accidentally brought an advantage to Nguyen Filip. Because goalkeeper Dang Van Lam decided to be relegated to the National First Division to play for Phu Dong Ninh Binh club.
It cannot be denied that Van Lam has played hard and had an impressive start at the ancient capital team, but it is clear that the competition level will not be as high quality as V.League - the league where Nguyen Filip still plays every week for Hanoi Police, facing skilled strikers.
Obviously, the balance has started to tilt towards Nguyen Filip before the time when the Vietnam National Team actively prepares for the 2024 ASEA Cup (formerly known as the AFF Cup). If there are no unexpected events in the next few weeks, it is entirely possible that Nguyen Filip will be the main goalkeeper for the "Golden Warriors" at the Southeast Asian Championship.
Overcome the fear
If that happens, Nguyen Filip will have his second major tournament with the Vietnam National Team after the Asian Cup finals - a difficult and disappointing tournament for this goalkeeper. In fact, the phrase "unsuccessful" or "unlucky" has been following Nguyen Filip for the past 11 months, since he became a Vietnamese player.
After 3 defeats in the 2023 Asian Cup finals, Nguyen Filip and the Vietnam team lost 3 more matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifying round (2 losses to Indonesia and 1 loss to Iraq). Next, in the international friendly in September 2024, Nguyen Filip could not help Vietnam avoid a loss to Thailand. In the match against India (October 2024), he only partly "erased the curse" with a regrettable draw.
The last time Filip Nguyen enjoyed the joy of victory was only a practice match. More precisely, in the second half, when he replaced Van Lam, the 31-year-old goalkeeper kept a clean sheet and contributed to Vietnam's comeback win over Nam Dinh club in an internal competition. Nguyen Filip wants to dispel his bad luck and the AFF Cup 2024 could be an opportunity for him to prove his class.
Looking at the match schedule, this goalkeeper can think about a victory with the Vietnam team in matches against "lightweight" opponents such as Myanmar, Laos or the Philippines. This is considered a mental lever for Filip to be more confident towards the team's key matches when facing Indonesia in the group stage, or further into the semi-finals and finals.
Another factor that motivates Nguyen Filip is that he was included in the list of 20 nominees for the 2024 Vietnam Golden Ball Award. In the context that V.League is not strong enough to be a determining criterion, the performance at the AFF Cup is considered the key criterion that determines the votes of coaches, experts and the media.
If Nguyen Filip plays the role of helping the Vietnamese team succeed in the upcoming tournament, it is possible that he will be in the Top 3, or even honored with the title of Best Player, similar to Duong Hong Son nearly 20 years ago. The flag is about to be in Nguyen Filip's hands.
