In recent days, the fact that goalkeeper Filip Nguyen holds Vietnamese nationality has become the focus of the media, receiving attention from many football fans. The possibility that this goalkeeper can wear the "golden star team" shirt has not only attracted the attention of Vietnamese audiences but also spread to Southeast Asian football "fans". In particular, the media and Indonesian fans have shown special interest, as the Vietnamese team and the team from the archipelago are two rivals with many fates, often meeting each other in regional and continental tournaments.
Recently, the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) and coach Shin Tae-yong have been promoting the naturalization of many players playing in Europe. Among them, center-back Justin Hubner (20 years old), playing for U.21 Wolverhampton (England), is perhaps the most prominent case. At the same time that this 20-year-old center-back took the oath to officially become an Indonesian citizen, goalkeeper Filip Nguyen also completed his naturalization as a Vietnamese citizen.
Vietnam (white shirt) and Indonesia are two teams with a lot of fate.
Regarding this coincidence, Okezone commented: "Not wanting to be overshadowed by the Indonesian team that just acquired Justin Hubner, the Vietnamese team also naturalized a player." Bolatimes wrote: "Indonesia needs to be careful when the Vietnamese team just added a quality name, Filip Nguyen. The goalkeeper currently playing for the Hanoi Police Club has high expectations from Vietnamese fans."
In the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, the Vietnamese team is in Group F with Indonesia (alongside Iraq and the Philippines). In the 2026 Asian Cup finals, Coach Troussier and Mr. Shin Tae-yong will also face each other in Group D (alongside Japan and Iraq). In the early stages of 2024, Vietnam and Indonesia will face each other 3 times (1 match in the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup in January 2024 and 2 matches in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in March 2024).
The Vietnamese team (red shirts) will face Indonesia 3 times in early 2024.
For a long time, the Vietnamese team has always been rated higher than Indonesia. However, the media in the archipelago country unexpectedly put coach Troussier's team on the list of teams that are most likely to be defeated by Garuda (the nickname of Indonesian teams) at the 2023 Asian Cup. "Vietnam is the traditional rival of the Indonesian team. The last time the Indonesian team defeated the Vietnamese team was in 2016. With many quality players and the diverse tactics of coach Shin Tae-yong, the Indonesian team has a chance to break the curse. Besides, the current Vietnamese team is no longer as strong as when coach Park Hang-seo led the team in the period 2017 - 2023", Okezone commented.
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