Goalkeeper Trung Kien - new symbol of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club

Hanoi Club only drew 0-0 with Hoang Anh Gia Lai at Hang Day Stadium in round 2 of V-League 2025-2026 on the evening of August 23.

This was a match in which the capital team had 21 shots, but were powerless against the defense and the excellence of goalkeeper Trung Kien.

"Trung Kien played wonderfully, extremely well. This was his peak match," coach Le Quang Trai praised his student at the press conference.

In the context of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club saying goodbye to the remaining big stars, goalkeeper Trung Kien has risen to become the brightest star of the mountain town team in V-League 2025-2026.

It is not only because of the name of the goalkeeper who played for the Vietnamese team that won the ASEAN Cup 2024, or won the U23 Southeast Asian Championship 2025 with the U23 Vietnam team, but also because of the true ability of this player who is only 22 years old.

In the match against Hanoi FC, Trung Kien had no less than 4 spectacular saves against shots that seemed to have turned into goals by Pham Tuan Hai, Le Xuan Tu, and Luiz Fernando.

With an ideal height (1m92), good control of the penalty area and quick reflexes, Trung Kien is increasingly asserting his talent. Something that two years ago, no one would have thought of when he was first promoted to the first team.

At that time, Trung Kien was only the second goalkeeper after Huynh Tuan Linh. He was sent to the field in the last two matches of V-League 2023 against Ho Chi Minh City Club and Song Lam Nghe An , when Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club was assured of staying in the league.

In the 2023-2024 season, Trung Kien was only able to play 6 matches (5 official). Because even though Huynh Tuan Linh left, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club brought back goalkeeper Phan Dinh Vu Hai and borrowed goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung in the second leg.

Only when Bui Tien Dung left after the season ended, Trung Kien was given a chance in the 2024-2025 season. And he immediately seized the opportunity to prove himself, thereby becoming the number 1 goalkeeper of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club.

In the past two years, no one has advanced as quickly as Trung Kien. He joined the Vietnam national team and became the number 1 goalkeeper of the Vietnam U23 team that won the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship in Indonesia. Now he is the number 1 star of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club after only the first two matches in the 2025-2026 V-League.

Trung Kien’s brilliance also makes Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club proud of its training product. The mountain town team has never trained an excellent goalkeeper, as the famous stars before have only come from the attack line.

But that has changed. The boy who joined Hoang Anh Gia Lai's training center 11 years ago has now suddenly become a big star of the club and the Vietnam U23 team.

Only 22 years old, Trung Kien has a bright future ahead of him. After the current goalkeepers in the Vietnam national team like Nguyen Filip, Dinh Trieu will be Trung Kien's.