This week, coach Kim Sang Sik announced the list of players for the Vietnamese team , preparing for the two home matches against Nepal, in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.

Experts predict that coach Kim Sang Sik will make many changes in personnel, in the context of many veterans being injured and losing form. Importantly, only having to welcome Nepal with average quality, is an opportunity for Mr. Kim to use young players to aim for the gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games taking place at the end of the year.

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Vietnam team has 2 friendly matches with Nam Dinh Blue Steel and CAHN in September.

In the goal position of the Vietnamese team, coach Kim Sang Sik is tending to use domestic faces again. In the ASEAN Cup 2024, despite Nguyen Filip's good form, the Korean strategist put his trust in Dinh Trieu, and that was absolutely the right decision when the goalkeeper of Hai Phong Club played excellently, contributing greatly to helping the Vietnamese team win the championship.

In 2025, Nguyen Filip and Dang Van Lam will not be regularly called up to the national team, although both are experienced and classy goalkeepers. In the most recent training session in September, both of these Vietnamese-American goalkeepers were absent.

In the upcoming training session (October 4), Nguyen Filip and Dang Van Lam can return, but they will have to compete fiercely for the position of guarding the Vietnamese national team's goal. Before joining the national team, Nguyen Filip lost points when he made a mistake in the 2-2 draw with Beijing Guo'an in AFC Champions League Two. That was the situation where the goalkeeper born in 1992 passed the ball straight to the opponent's foot, leading to a goal being conceded.

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Nguyen Filip may lose his starting position.

Currently, Coach Kim Sang Sik is highly appreciating the young faces Trung Kien (HAGL) or Van Viet (The Cong Viettel ). Of these two goalkeepers, Trung Kien shines in the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament, helping U23 Vietnam defend the championship.

Most recently, Trung Kien and U23 Vietnam won all the matches in the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers, not conceding any goals after 3 matches. At the club level, the goalkeeper born in 2003 and his teammates at HAGL held PVF-CAND to a draw in the away match in round 5 of the V-League 2025/26.

With what he has shown, and being the number 1 goalkeeper of U23 Vietnam at SEA Games 33, it is not surprising that Trung Kien will be the main goalkeeper for the Vietnam team, replacing his seniors Nguyen Filip and Dang Van Lam in the two upcoming matches against Nepal.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tuyen-viet-nam-dau-nepal-nguyen-filip-de-mat-suat-2447017.html