Nguyen Filip is the most expensive face of the Vietnamese team at the 2023 Asian Cup finals. On Transfermarkt, this goalkeeper is valued at 600 thousand euros.
At the age of 32, this overseas Vietnamese guy is facing the opportunity to play for the Vietnamese national team for the first time, something he probably never thought of during the days when he had to save every penny to start his career in Europe.
Working as a shipper to nurture my passion for football
Nguyen Filip started football quite late. He started playing football at the age of 9 and had no intention of playing professionally. After a period of training at the famous Czech Republic training center Spara Praha, Nguyen Filip realized that his football career was a reasonable choice.
Nguyen Filip is likely to be the main goalkeeper of the Vietnam team at the 2023 Asian Cup.
However, that "reasonable" only really holds true when Nguyen Filip passes through and becomes successful as he is now. In reality, nearly ten years ago, this Vietnamese-American goalkeeper had to struggle a lot between choosing to continue with football or doing another manual job.
In the end, Nguyen Filip chose… both.
“At that time, my contract with Sparta Praha expired,” Nguyen Filip shared in an interview with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).
“I had to choose between finding another job or continuing to pursue my football career. I know my mother supports me a lot, not only financially but also spends a lot of time helping me. She believes that I have the ability to become a professional player. Therefore, I do not want to give up or quit, so I found a job in parallel with playing football,” said Nguyen Filip.
According to Nguyen Filip, at that time, he was only accepted by a team in the Czech Republic's Third Division. At that time, the Vietnamese goalkeeper had to deliver goods in the morning and then go to the training ground with the team in the afternoon. This difficult time lasted for nearly 2 years, until he was selected by a Czech Second Division club. From then on, Nguyen Filip's journey became less bumpy and arduous.
First month salary for mom
“My income at that time was equivalent to about 6 million VND. I also earned an additional amount from the football team. The total income from the two sources was about 20 million VND,” Nguyen Filip confided about his time working part-time.
“I also have to pay rent for my apartment, which is about 10 million VND, so I don’t have much money anymore. Because of this difficult time, I now appreciate money more. I don’t spend money carelessly anymore because I understand how difficult it is to earn money, that experience really helps me save a lot of money.”
He excitedly confided about his first salary. Nguyen Filip said: “When I was 16, I received my first salary. I saved it to support my mother because she had given me a lot, I wanted to repay her in this way. She had done a lot for me, so I wanted to help my mother to have a better life.”
Returning to Vietnam to compete helps Nguyen Filip open a new chapter in his career at the age of over 30.
The day Nguyen Filip announced that he had been called up to the Vietnam national team, it was a comfort that helped Nguyen Filip's mother ease her longing for her son.
“She is sad that I am no longer in the Czech Republic. But she is very supportive of me, she understands that this is the best choice for me and my family. She can also come to Vietnam at any time and I will also occasionally return to the Czech Republic to visit my mother,” Nguyen Filip confided.
He affirmed that it was also the right direction for himself and his family: “Because I also want my son to have a better relationship with Vietnam. I want to teach my son more about Vietnamese language and culture. Along with that, I think returning to Vietnam is also better for my career because I can play for the national team like today, that is one of my biggest goals. So returning to Vietnam is the best choice for me.”
For a full month, Nguyen Filip has been going well. He completed the naturalization process, was called up to the Vietnam national team and is now considered the number 1 choice for the goalkeeper position. Dang Van Lam's injury means Coach Troussier doesn't have to worry about choosing a goalkeeper for the Asian Cup because Nguyen Filip is superior to his teammates.
Nguyen Filip happily said: “In the first days in the Vietnam team, I was exposed to many new things, from new training methods, new tactics, and the head coach's instructions were also very new to me. I am slowly adapting to the surrounding environment and gradually improving to become the head coach's number 1 choice.
Of course it was a great experience. The old players supported and cared a lot about the new players. The coach is also very strict, which I think is a good thing because he wants the players to be disciplined and play productively on the field. Troussier is a good coach and I believe his experience will help Vietnamese football develop further."
Xuan Phuong
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