Goalkeeper Nguyen Manh - a bright spot in Singapore

Untilmeet the Thai teamPeople can see the emptiness of Trong Hoang, Hung Dung, Van Hau. Seeing Songkrasin (18) dancing with the ball, people can understand why coach Park tried every way to bring Hung Dung to Singapore even though he had just recovered from an injury. It seems that compared to the senior generation, Hoang Duc and the young players still have a distance compared to Trong Hoang, Hung Dung, Van Hau.

Overcoming challenges

Goalkeeper Nguyen Manh. Photo courtesy

It was not until the match against Laos that Vietnamese audiences knew that goalkeeper Nguyen Manh was the one chosen by Mr. Park and the team's coaching staff. A difficult choice, although many people knew that Nguyen Manh's professional ability was considered higher than Bui Tan Truong's. However, past incidents have caused the goalkeeper from Nghe An to not be trusted for 5 years, even though he is the goalkeeper of the champion Viettel.

At the AFF Cup 2020, Nguyen Manh played in 5 out of 6 matches of the Vietnamese team. Except for the match with Cambodia, Mr. Park let Bui Tan Truong wear the gloves in a match that predicted the opponent had no chance to attack. Up to now, Nguyen Manh is considered to have completed his professional duties well, excelling in the 2 semi-final matches with Thailand. According to Sofascore statistics in the first match, goalkeeper Nguyen Manh saved the Vietnamese team twice from shots by Lao players. In the match against Malaysia and Indonesia, the Nghe An goalkeeper was more relaxed, Vietnamese fans even joked that Viettel's goalkeeper could sleep in a hammock.

Create trust

Against Thailand, Nguyen Manh had at least one chance to face Songkrasin after conceding two goals and saving Vietnam from a penalty. This was a match where midfielders S.Yooyen (6), Thanwat (12), Phitiwat (16) often made passes between defenders for the second line to run up. This forced Nguyen Manh to quickly read the opponent's intentions and play the ball skillfully with his feet. Nguyen Manh's ability to launch attacks with his feet has improved significantly, both in terms of accuracy and length of the passes.

In both semi-final matches, Mr. Alexandre Polking advocated for Thai players to hold the ball and disrupt the play of the Vietnamese team rather than organizing attacks to score goals. But with strikers like Dangda (10), S.Yooyen (6), Phitiwat (16), goals can come at any time. Currently, the Thai team can create from both wings and the middle.

AFF Cup 2020 is still a beautiful memory when Nguyen Manh only conceded 2 goals in unavoidable situations. Photo: VFF

From the midfield in the 4-4-2 diamond formation, the positions can be interchangeable. Especially in the second leg of the semi-final, the team had to push up to attack, forcing the goalkeeper to manage the space behind the defenders without making any mistakes. Nguyen Manh basically did that, creating peace of mind for his teammates.

Not to mention that the current Thai team has many players with good height such as K.Kaman (26), Supachai (22), naturalized players Thanwat (12), M.Bihar (4), E.Dolah (5) in aerial battles, requiring Nguyen Manh to choose the right landing point. In fact, in 180 minutes of the semi-final, Viettel's goalkeeper neatly handled fixed free kicks and crosses from the opponent.

The Vietnamese team failed to defend the AFF Cup title, but for the 30-year-old goalkeeper, the 2020 AFF Cup is still a beautiful memory as he only conceded two goals in unavoidable situations. Wishing the goalkeeper from Nghe An more successful matches for his club and the national team./.