In the context of Dang Van Lam suffering a shoulder injury and unable to join the Vietnam national team to participate in the AFF Cup 2020, the goalkeeping position is a competition between Tran Nguyen Manh and Bui Tan Truong. These are both veteran goalkeepers with a lot of experience in Vietnamese football.. Both Nguyen Manh and Tan Truong were once the number 1 choice in the goal of the Vietnam national team in the past. But the return of the goalkeeper duo to the national team is something that not many people expected.

First was the decision to call Tan Truong back to the national team after nearly 10 years, and at one point people even believed that the Hanoi FC goalkeeper could compete fairly with Van Lam. But then the off-field controversies related to activities on social networking sites, combined with the impact of a series of consecutive losses in the World Cup qualifiers, made coach Park Hang-seo decide to include Nguyen Manh in the list of the Vietnamese team for the AFF Cup 2020 campaign. This move by Mr. Park is said to create pressure to compete for a position for Tan Truong.

Nguyen Manh is the first goalkeeper for the Vietnam national team after 5 years.

And indeed, Nguyen Manh made Tan Truong really worried with his stable performance in the 2-0 victory over Laos in the opening match. The goalkeeper born in 1991 played with high concentration and alertness throughout the 90 minutes despite not having to move too much. And in the rare situation where he had to work hard, Nguyen Manh showed his class and courage when he successfully blocked a shot from European star Billy Ketkeo of Laos in a 1-on-1 situation. This was also the first time in 5 years that Nguyen Manh started for the Vietnam team.

Nguyen Manh's unforgettable play in the second leg of the AFF Cup 2014 semi-final. Photo: Archive

Therefore, it will not be surprising if in the match against Malaysia on December 12, the match considered the final of Group B, Nguyen Manh continues to receive the trust of coach Park Hang-seo..And if we mention Malaysia, Nguyen Manh will surely be one of the most emotional people.The reason is because the goalkeeper from Nghe An had to go through a bitter memory 7 years ago in the second leg of the AFF Cup 2014 semi-final, against the "Malaysian Tigers".

After successfully passing the group stage under the guidance of coach Toshiya Miura, Vietnam faced Malaysia in the semi-finals. And in the first leg in Malaysia, Van Quyet's brilliance helped the Golden Star warriors win 2-1. With 2 away goals, Vietnam would still have a ticket to the finals even if they lost 0-1 at My Dinh Stadium. However, the first 45 minutes of the second leg of the semi-final was nothing short of "torture" for home fans.

At the end of the first half, the score was 4-1 in favor of Malaysia. In the second goal, Nguyen Manh and Van Bien were the ones who did not coordinate well. In the 79th minute, captain Cong Vinh completed his double, but the 2-4 loss made Vietnam bitterly give up the ticket to the final to Malaysia.

That is a huge wound for Vietnamese football and Nguyen Manh personally in particular. The goalkeeper from Nghe An always cherished and dreamed of a complete AFF Cup after consecutive failures in 2014 and 2016. Those were tournaments where Nguyen Manh had many excellent saves and was compared to "spider man" De Gea. But small mistakes caused him and his teammates to always stop at the semi-finals. Obviously, only being the main goalkeeper for the Vietnamese team, defeating Malaysia and then winning the championship at the AFF Cup 2020 can help Nguyen Manh forget the torments of the past and sing a song of victory in the red shirt with the yellow star.

Tan Truong is the same, he also does not have many good memories when talking about Malaysia. After the injustice of "match-fixing" and the divine chokehold of coach Henrique Calisto at the 2009 SEA Games, Tan Truong continued to have problems at the 2010 AFF Cup. Specifically, in the semi-final match, a series of tricks performed by Malaysian fans in the Bukit Jalil stands such as shining a laser light into the eyes of the goalkeeper born in 1986, making him unable to catch the ball and allowing Safee Sali to jump high and head the ball to score. Vietnamese fans were shocked and continuously blamed Tan Truong.

Tan Truong also made a mistake against Malaysia in the AFF Cup 2010. Photo: Archive

Losing 0-2 in the first leg, Vietnam could not turn the tables in the second leg and stopped at the threshold of the final. In fact, Tan Truong had the opportunity to meet and defeat Malaysia in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, but of course the AFF Cup arena is still something more symbolic in the region.

On December 12, when they meet Malaysia at the AFF Cup 2020, Coach Park Hang-seo will have to carefully consider who will be the main goalkeeper for the Vietnamese team. But one thing is certain: both Nguyen Manh and Tan Truong are burning with the spirit of "avenging revenge" and must "break the fangs of the Malaysian Tiger" at all costs at the AFF Cup. It can be said that in addition to the rivalry between Vietnam and Malaysia, Nguyen Manh and Tan Truong also have memories to ponder about this fateful opponent.