Filip Nguyen and his teammates in the Hanoi Police Club's competition uniforms. (Source: FBCN)

On December 12, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) sent a preliminary list of the national team participating in the 2023 Asian Cup according to regulations with 50 names. Notably in this list is the presence of goalkeeper Filip Nguyen - who was newly naturalized as a Vietnamese citizen on December 6.

However, Filip Nguyen still has to wait for AFC to review whether he is eligible to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey or not.

While in the Czech Republic, the goalkeeper born in 1992 was called up to the Czech Republic national team many times for friendly matches since 2020, including the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League and the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

However, Filip Nguyen has never officially played a minute in a Czech Republic national team jersey.

On the afternoon of December 13, AFC officially responded to Filip Nguyen's case. Accordingly, the goalkeeper born in 1992 has been confirmed to be eligible to register in the preliminary list of the Vietnamese team to participate in the 2023 Asian Cup finals.

Thus, if there are no changes, Filip Nguyen will be called up to the Vietnam national team by coach Philippe Troussier in the upcoming training session.

At the 2023 Asian Cup, Vietnam is in Group D with Japan, Iraq and Indonesia. The tournament will start from January 12 to February 10, 2024 at 9 stadiums in 5 cities of Qatar.

To prepare for the 2023 Asian Cup finals, the Vietnamese team is expected to regroup on December 28, after finishing round 8 of the 2023/24 V-League. Coach Philippe Troussier and his team will train at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center until January 5, 2024, before leaving for Qatar to attend the 2023 Asian Cup.

In Qatar, the Vietnamese team will have an extra week to prepare for their opening match against Japan. During their training in Qatar, the team will have a friendly match against Kyrgyzstan, scheduled to take place on January 9.