VietNamNet Bridge – Two foreign coaches will take over the men's and women's national volleyball teams next month for a two-month trial period, an official from the Volleyball Federation of Viet Nam said.


HTML clipboard On trial: Top Vietnamese player Ngo Van Kieu spikes the ball during a match against Kazakhstan at the Asian Games in Guangzhou. Viet Nam has hired foreign coaches for both the men's and women's volleyball teams. (Photo: VNS)
"Brazilian Augusto Sabbatini and Chinese Chuan will be based at the National Sport Training Centre in Ha Noi as coaches of the men's and women's teams, respectively," Tran Duc Phan, general secretary of the VFV said.


Sabbatini, 47, was the coach of Pakistani men's team at the Asian Games in Guangzhou last year.


"If appointed, their brief will be to improve the quality of the teams and win medals at the 2011 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games later this year in Indonesia," Phan said without revealing their likely salaries.


While the women's team are second-ranked in the region, the men's team, which won a silver medal at the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand, declined to fourth place at the 2009 SEA Games in Laos.


In preparation for the 2011 SEA Games, the men's team will compete in the 2011 Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship in Palembang, Indonesia in July.


They are also likely to play in the Asian Volleyball Championship in September and Sting Cup in HCM City a month later.


The women's team will take part in three events: the 2011 Asian Women's Club Volleyball Championship from May 14 to 21 in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, the VTV Cup international tournament in July, and the Princess Cup in Thailand in October.


VFV also plans to hire foreign coaches for beach volleyball where the gap with other countries in the region is quite big.


VietNamNet/Viet Nam News