Goalkeeper Tran Nguyen Manh has a chance to start in the match against Australia?

Because Dang Van Lam has not fully recovered from his shoulder injury,Coach Park Hang-seodecided to keep 3 goalkeepers who participated in AFFC Cup 2020 to compete in Australia. They are goalkeeper Nguyen Van Hoang, Bui Tan Truong and Tran Nguyen Manh.

Indeed, apart from Van Hoang who is very inexperienced at the national team level, it is really not easy to predict the goalkeeper position of the Vietnam team at this time, between Tan Truong or Nguyen Manh who will play.

Tan Truong is holding the starting position in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup..Image:AFC

In the matches in the 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds of the 2022 World Cup this year, goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong was always trusted. However, after an incident on social media livestream, 1 day after the match with Japan ended, Tan Truong was no longer assigned by Coach Park to be the main goalkeeper.

The proof is at AFF Cup 2020,Tran Nguyen Manhreturned as the number 1 goalkeeper. The goalkeeper from Nghe An has played in a total of 5/6 matches of the Vietnam National Team. Only in the match where the Vietnam National Team won 4-0 against Cambodia, did Coach Park create conditions for Tan Truong.

Speaking of Nguyen Manh, he has made good use of the trust of the Korean coach. In 4/5 matches he played, Nguyen Manh kept a clean sheet. In the 0-2 loss to Thailand - the only match in which Nguyen Manh conceded a goal, the fault was not on the Nghe An goalkeeper.

Nguyen Manh catches extremely well at AFF Cup 2020.Image:AFF

Nguyen Manh's form is of course better than Tan Truong's. But when the Vietnam team returns to the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, especially when facing the "flying fortresses" of Australia, a goalkeeper who is less than 1m80 tall like Nguyen Manh will be at a disadvantage.

At the AFF Cup 2020, Nguyen Manh rarely had to show off his talent with aerial balls. His strong reflexes and situational judgment helped him block the opponent's attacks. Notably, he blocked Chanathip Songkrasin's penalty kick in the first leg of the AFF Cup 2020 semi-final against Thailand.

But in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, especially when facing Australia, who is very strong in aerial combat, the physical disadvantage can clearly affect Nguyen Manh.

Remember in the first leg match between the two teams, also because he knew the opponent was good at high balls, Coach Park assigned Van Lam to replace Tan Truong as the starting goalkeeper. Yet the Vietnam team still let the opponent score a goal with a scenario starting from a high ball.

Perhaps, Nguyen Manh will have his chance when Vietnam plays against China. Against the "flying fortress" Australia, Nguyen Manh will probably have to accept being a backup for Tan Truong./.