Secretary General of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Le Hoai Anh recently announced the final decision on hiring the next coach for the team will be made in May.

Currently, 16 foreign coaches have been nominated for the position as chief coach of Vietnamese national male team, he said.

Hoai Anh and VFF Vice Chairman Tran Quoc Tuan  paid  a working trip to Japan where they interviewed a number of coaches of the Japan Football Association.

VFF Chairman Le Hung Dung revealed that at a recent meeting of the VFF, many delegates expressed a strong desire for a Japanese coach to train local footballers.

Vietnam ranks first at SEA Karatedo competition

Vietnam secured 14 gold, 22 silver and 30 bronze medals to rank first at the third Southeast Asia Karatedo championship, which was wrapped up in the Mekong Delta city of Can Thoon April 18.

Thailand and Indonesia came in second and third, respectively.

The competition, started on April 16, attracted 203 athletes from Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. They competed for the 39 sets of medals.

At the championship in the Philippines last year, the Vietnamese team bagged six gold medals, ranking third.

Laos is scheduled to host the 4th event of this kind in 2015.

The For the Future of Viet Nam Football programme will kick off its third season on a larger scale, bringing more opportunities for the local children during their summer vacation.

The football camp will be organised in Ha Noi and Vinh City from June 9 to July 12 and from July 14 to 26, respectively.

The event, sponsored and organised by Yamaha Motor Vietnam, is expected to attract children aged between six and 10 years old nation-wide.

The qualifying candidates will take part in a five-week training course which will teach them basic football knowledge and techniques, team spirit and life skills.

An estimated 220 kids will be selected from the trials. They will be trained by Japanese trainer Masakuni Yamamoto along with his colleagues and well-known Vietnamese coaches.

Parents and children who are interested in participating in the programme can log on to yamaha-motor.com.vn or facebook.com/ViTuongLaiBongDaVietNam for more information.

Binh Duong win keeps team in second place

Two-time winner Becamex Binh Duong has not lost at home since February 15, and again yesterday they defeated Song Lam Nghe An 2-1 at Go Dau Stadium.

It was Binh Duong's seventh V-League win of the season, helping them remain in the second place ranking with 23 points after 11 matches.

Binh Duong are three points behind the leader, Thanh Hoa, who also won on Friday.

During the match, Huynh Alves Kesley scored his seventh goal at the 40th minute. The naturalised striker's 25m kick went straight to the net, leaving goalkeeper Tran Nguyen Manh helpless.

Midfielder Hoang Van Binh, a former Nghe An player, gave Kesley the perfect ball to score.

The goal pushed the hosts out of Nghe An's domination, which began at the beginning of the match.

They gradually levelled the score and went ahead with threatening opportunities until the 70th minute.

Nghe An's and national best striker Le Cong Vinh broke an off-side trap during a counter-attack, before knocking out Binh Duong's goalie Quoc Thien Esele.

It was Vinh's 101st goal in the V-League.

Coach Le Thuy Hai of Binh Duong decided to improve his front line as Nguyen Tang Tuan and Suleiman Abdullahi in the field.

The experienced trainer proved why he was always one of the best paid coaches in V-League, as all of his activities brought positive results.

Tuan made a clever run to the box and tapped the ball, which went through Manh's legs into the net.

The hosts should have had a third goal near the end of the match, had Abass Cheikh Dieng not missed an easy opportunity when he faced off with Manh in the penalty area.

Nghe An's sixth loss saw them fall to eighth place, with only 13 points. The former champions will meet Binh Duong again in the first round of the tournament's second leg on April 27.

In another match yesterday, Dong Tam Long An beat Hung Vuong An Giang 3-1.

The result of the game, however, did not change their ranking position at the bottom of the table. Long An could only narrow the gap with the above teams.

On Saturday, defending champions Ha Noi T&T drew 2-2 with Quang Nam at Hang Day Stadium.

T&T are at the third position, with 19 points, seven less than leading Thanh Hoa, but they still have three spare matches.

Earlier, SHB Da Nang tied 1-1 with Hoang Anh Gia Lai. The two former winners are in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Son, teammates win first matches at Asian championships

Grandmaster Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son has joined the leading group of players after the first round of the ongoing Asian Continental Open Chess Championships in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates.

The Vietnamese master yesterday defeated Abdyjapar Asyl of Kazakhstan.

He will next meet teammate Nguyen Duc Hoa, who also has one point after defeating Al-Takrori Husam of Palestine.

Another Vietnamese grandmaster Dao Thien Hai yesterday beat Khayat Abdullah F from Saudi Arabia. Hai will play Iranian Ghaem Maghami Ehsan in the next match.

Vietnamese women players Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, Hoang Thi Bao Tram and Nguyen Thi Thanh An also won their games.

Their teammates Hoang Thi Nhu Y and Pham Le Thao Nguyen drew the first match.

Nearly 100 masters from 15 countries and territories are participating in the Asian tournament. Bu Xiangzhi of China and Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Russia are the favourites for the men's crown, while Chinese Tan Zhongyi and Mongolian Batkhuyag Munguntuu are the favourites for the women's title. The event will end on April 25.