VietNamNet Bridge – Experts believe the time has come for local coaches to take over the national football teams, but admit it also requires them to be paid similar salaries and allowed to do their job without interference.

Coach Le Huynh Duc. (Photo: VNN)
The Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) say they are gravitating towards local coaches for U23 and national teams after prematurely ending German coach Falko Goetz's two-year contract following the recent Southeast Asian Games flop.

There is widespread understanding that foreign coaches have failed to achieve much success and Vietnamese are doing their jobs well in the V-League.

All five V-League winners since 2007 have had Vietnamese coaches – Le Thuy Hai twice and Le Huynh Duc, Phan Thanh Hung, and Nguyen Huu Thang.

Duc and Thang are young men who have been successful at both the domestic and international levels, and, along with Hung, will be top contenders for the vacancy left by Goetz.

Duc, a famous former national striker, told Viet Nam News: "Having a local coach for national teams is not a bad idea since they have some advantages over foreign counterparts like having a good understanding of Vietnamese football, Vietnamese players, and Southeast Asian football.

"But a local coach must have what foreign coaches have as the coach of a national team and the salary must be higher than in their club."

Duc, 40, has been hugely popular both as a player and a coach. One of the best strikers of his generation in Southeast Asia, he is also the best coach of his generation in Viet Nam, having led Da Nang to the 2009 V-League title and the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation Cup.

Nguyen Van Vinh, technical director of Hoang Anh Gia Lai when they swept to several titles in the early 2000's, also believes that the VFF should place their faith in local coaches.

"Local coaches are good enough to lead the national team, but the problem is that the VFF have to let them do their job," he said.

Vinh, the veteran coach of Ha Noi Football Club, also backs the idea of having a local coach and agrees that local coaches must be given a completely free hand to do their job.

Viet Nam has had five local national coaches in the past, but none achieved any major honours.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News