Young HAGL star replaces Nguyen Filip as the main goalkeeper for Vietnam national team against Nepal: Why not?

If he continues to maintain his current impressive form, HAGL's Tran Trung Kien is fully capable of taking the starting position in the Vietnam national team in the near future.

HAGL's hero is constantly improving

Holding the ball for 71% of the time, launching 21 shots, including a series of dangerous shots, Hanoi FC still could not score any goals against HAGL in round 2 of V-League and had to share points right at Hang Day Stadium. Perhaps, the capital team's fans wished that the person standing in the goal for the away team was not Trung Kien. Throughout the 90 minutes, the HAGL goalkeeper performed extremely well with the ability to choose a position, enter and exit appropriately and extremely sharp reflexes.

The media called Trung Kien's performance "divine". However, if we follow the development of the goalkeeper born in 2003, we will see that he is showing his inherent form. Since the 2024-2025 season, Trung Kien has been HAGL's number 1 goalkeeper, contributing greatly to helping the mountain town team successfully stay in the league. Thanks to that, he was trusted by coach Kim Sang-sik and called up to the Vietnam national team to participate in the 2024 AFF Cup. The time spent training with seniors such as Nguyen Filip, Nguyen Dinh Trieu and especially goalkeeper coach Lee Won-jae helped Trung Kien improve continuously.

At the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship recently held in Indonesia, Trung Kien continued to be a solid support for the Vietnam U.23 team. In the final match against the host team, he successfully neutralized all the opponent's attacks despite playing under great pressure. Trung Kien's stability and certainty helped the Vietnam U.23 team successfully defend the regional title.

Trung Kien is capable of becoming the number 1 goalkeeper of the Vietnam national team in the future.

PHOTO: MINH TU

The future of the Vietnam team

Compared to Nguyen Filip - the overseas Vietnamese goalkeeper who is currently playing for the Vietnam national team, Trung Kien is almost not inferior in height. He is only 1 cm shorter than his senior (1.91 m compared to 1.92 m). Therefore, the young goalkeeper also controls the high ball situations well. At both the club and U.23 Vietnam, Trung Kien has shown his ability to control the penalty area well, often coming out to intercept the ball decisively, bringing peace of mind to the defenders.

Another advantage of Trung Kien over Nguyen Filip is his ability to communicate and command the defense. While the overseas Vietnamese goalkeeper is not yet fluent in Vietnamese, the HAGL goalkeeper was born and raised in Vietnam, so he can easily connect with his teammates above. Despite his young age, Trung Kien is also very proactive in shouting and giving signals to the central defenders to keep their positions properly. At the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship, his good communication skills helped him become a "silent leader" in the back line, significantly reducing the loss of concentration and position in defense.

Another factor that makes Trung Kien highly appreciated is his calmness. At the age of 22, he rarely shows any mental tension, even in tense matches like the U.23 Southeast Asian final. It is this calmness that helps Trung Kien make accurate decisions in a split second, which is extremely important for a young goalkeeper. In addition, he has gradually improved his footwork, a key factor in helping the team apply a controlled style of play, launching attacks from the home field.

Obviously, with what he is showing, Trung Kien is becoming a strong candidate to replace Nguyen Filip as the main goalkeeper in the Vietnam national team. Among the young goalkeepers, he is the most prominent face. And in the immediate future, the task of the goalkeeper who is wearing the HAGL shirt is to help the Vietnam U.23 team win a ticket to the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship finals.

Who knows, maybe during the October training session, preparing for the match against Nepal in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, Trung Kien will be called up to the national team (like in the 2024 AFF Cup) and maybe, he will start instead of Nguyen Filip (the goalkeeper is not on the team's list on August 29).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/sao-tre-hagl-thay-nguyen-filip-bat-chinh-o-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-dau-nepal-tai-sao-khong-185250826092850526.htm