Trung Kien during the training session of the Vietnam U.23 team at Ba Ria Stadium
Photo: VFF
Tran Trung Kien: Great opportunity at U.23 Vietnam
When the U.23 Vietnam team gathered to train at Ba Ria Stadium recently, goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien received great expectations from many fans to become "number 1" in the goal when coach Kim Sang-sik and his team aim for the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asian tournament.
This is understandable, as the goalkeeper of HAGL Club possesses many advantages, first of all, an ideal body shape of 1.91 m tall compared to the other two teammates Cao Van Binh (1.83 m) or Pham Dinh Hai (1.85 m), only Nguyen Tan (1.90 m) has a similar height.
His physical advantage helps Trung Kien make a strong impression thanks to his ability to fight in the air and compete for the ball in the air with foreign strikers. In addition, his long arms also help the young goalkeeper born in 2003 make spectacular saves.
The Vietnam U.23 team is actively training to prepare for the Southeast Asian U.23 tournament.
Photo: VFF
In particular, continuously playing as the main goalkeeper for HAGL Club in the V-League arena, facing the top foreign and domestic strikers in Vietnam, further strengthens Trung Kien's advantage in the race for the main goalkeeper position in the Vietnam U.23 team.
However, don't be surprised when Trung Kien himself still cannot guarantee to become "number 1" in the Vietnam U.23 team, as coach Kim Sang-sik is still evaluating the details in the active competition for positions among the 4 goalkeepers.
Unexpected competition
There is a small but very notable detail, that Trung Kien has the advantage of playing in the V-League - something that his opponents cannot compare to - but is still inferior to his colleagues in a very important factor: international competition experience.
Cao Van Binh is a strong competitor for Tran Trung Kien.
Photo: VFF
In fact, Trung Kien was with the U.23 Vietnam team to win the 2023 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship but was a reserve and did not play in any matches. After that, the HAGL Club player often "ate national team food" in the U.23 Vietnam team and the Vietnam national team but had few opportunities to compete.
This is in contrast to Trung Kien's main rival, the younger Cao Van Binh (born in 2005), who is very experienced in international battles, having trained with the Vietnam U.17 team in Germany and is often the "main actor" in the colors of the Vietnam U.17 and U.19 teams.
Cao Van Binh started in 3 matches of Vietnam U.20 in the 2023 AFC U.20 Championship, including keeping a clean sheet against Australia U.20. In addition, he was also voted "Best Goalkeeper" in the 2025 CFA Team China international friendly tournament while playing for Vietnam U.23.
Coach Kim Sang-sik will carefully choose "number 1" for the Vietnam U.23 team.
Photo: Ngoc Linh
Meanwhile, another name is Pham Dinh Hai ( Hanoi Club, born in 2006), although very young, he also has quite a lot of international experience, when he was the main goalkeeper for the Vietnam U.16 team, which defeated Thailand in the semi-finals of the 2022 Southeast Asian U.16 tournament.
In the following years, the young goalkeeper of Hanoi Club regularly played for the Vietnam U.19 team in the Southeast Asian U.19 tournament and the Asian U.20 qualifiers as well as friendly tournaments. Standing at 1.85 m tall at the age of 19, Dinh Hai has a promising future ahead.
Trung Kien is still leading the score in the U.23 Vietnam team, but the fact that he has to improve his footwork skills will make the race for the starting position very attractive, especially given the precedent that coach Kim Sang-sik once chose Dinh Trieu, despite being inferior in height and reputation compared to Nguyen Filip at the AFF Cup 2024.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cuoc-dua-so-1-o-u23-viet-nam-nhung-su-that-bat-ngo-185250709113709864.htm
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