Hoang Anh Gia Lai.

The Central Highlands team last earned the V-League title in 2004, when they won the championship with the Thai trio Kiatisuk Senamueng, Dusit Chalermsan and Tawan Sripan.

As scheduled, the team had seven days off from last Sunday and received a VND10 million (US$600) cash-prize.

American-Vietnamese Lee Nguyen, who signed a three-year contract with Hoang Anh Gia Lai, along with Nirut Surasiang and Sakda Joemdee from Thailand, who have just been granted Vietnamese citizenship, will arrive at the team’s headquarters at Ham Rong Sports Centre on Monday.

Nguyen, who played for Denmark’s Randers and trained with PSV Eindhoven’s youth team in the Netherlands, will celebrate his first Vietnamese Tet this year.

Lower cash prizes

Most V-League teams are giving out about half the amount of cash prizes this year as they did last year.

Hoa Phat Ha Noi only awarded VND8 million ($470) to each player this year; The Cong, Nam Dinh gave players VND4 million ($235) each.

Defending champions Becamex Binh Duong players were given VND5 million ($294).

The team newly promoted to the V-League, Military Zone 4, presented players with only VND500,000 ($30) each, because the team has not signed any sponsorship deals with businesses yet like other teams have. For the moment, they are paying everything out of their own coffers.

Military Zone 4 will start its training very early in the new year like other V-League teams. The central Nghe An-based Military team will field their players next Tuesday, the second Lunar New Year day, while SHB Da Nang also resume training on that day. Former Sai Gon Port, which changed their name as HCM City club on Thursday, will start kicking the ball on the first day of new year.

Austrian coach Alfred Riedl, who formerly coached Viet Nam team, is having his new team Hai Phong Cement start training next Wednesday.

V-League, which has 14 teams competing in two-round robins for the championship, will kick off on February 7 with the match between defending champions Binh Duong and Nam Dinh at Binh Duong Province’s Go Dau Stadium.

(Source: VNS)