Park Hang-seo calling a European-class goalkeeper replacing Van Lam

Before Dang Van Lam emerged as the No. 1 choice of Vietnam, football in the country experienced a 10-year crisis in the goalkeeper position. There are talented players like Nguyen Manh, Tan Truong, ... but they all show psychological inferiority that leads to mistakes in important tournaments.

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However, recently, Van Lam's position has been shakened by a Vietnamese-origin Filip Nguyen, who was mentioned frequently over time.

Of course, this guy was not praised by the media here. He grew up in Sparta Praha's training club, the No.1 team in the Czech Republic and regularly participates in the UEFA Champions League.

Having been through many European teams, he now has a solid position in the shirt of Slovan Liberec. Although Slovan Liberec is not as strong as Sparta, Filip Nguyen's presence has helped this team improve the quality of the defense.

In the 2018/2019 season, Filip Nguyen started 26 games and only conceded 19 goals, such an impressive rate. This season, Filip Nguyen was awarded the title of the best goalkeeper in the tournament.

Worried about the eyes from the big clubs, Slovan Liberec has tied Filip Nguyen to 2022. It is strange that he was not summoned by the Czech Republic. Perhaps the differences in the roots, as Filip Nguyen was discriminated by his teammates in the youth team.

With such a talent, there is no reason Park can ignore him, especially Filip Nguyen expressed his desire to contribute to the Vietnam national team. He has been applying for citizenship and is awaiting approval by the authorities.

Filip Nguyen will be a strong rival of Van Lam. Filip Nguyen is on a higher level than the goalkeeper playing Muangthong United, playing in one of Europe's most prestigious leagues, while Van Lam only plays in the Thai League, a strong tournament in Southeast Asia. Even Filip Nguyen won the Golden Gloves of the Czech National League, proving his talent.

Filip Nguyen is 1.90 meters,  taller than Van Lam 4cm and weighs 85kg. That bulky body doesn't mean Filip's reflexes are slow. The ability to jump and handle face-to-face situations is impressive. Van Lam is a good professional player, but there were times he chose a bad position and made wrong decisions.

Another skill cannot be ignored: Filip Nguyen plays the ball with his feet very well. Nowadays goalkeepers are required to work more with their teammates, so they need to be able to pass the ball and touch the ball well when facing high pressure. This is inherent weakness of Van Lam. Spectators witnessed the kicks up to the stands of the Vietnamese Russian goalie.

With increasing requirements of Park Hang-seo, Filip Nguyen will be an exciting new option in the Vietnam’s goal. And with 2 excellent goalkeepers, the competition will help them promote each other. The beneficiary is the Korean strategist and Vietnam national team.