Officials of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) have met to discuss the selection of a new coach for the national football team.

German coach Falko Goetz.

At this moment, the two finalists are still Juergen Gede and Falko Goetz from Germany. It is said that up to 90 percent of the chance belongs to Coach Goetz.

VFF has nearly finalized its negotiation with candidates. After the upcoming four-day holiday (April 30-May 3), the federation will announce the name of the winner. The new coach will come to Vietnam in early May to sign a contract with VFF.

In the past 15 years, the national football team had many coaches, including only one Vietnamese coach – Tran Duy Long.

There are several issues related to the selection of a coach that VFF must consider.

Firstly, VFF should choose a domestic or foreign coach? Previously, a foreign coach was the natural selection, but now VFF has to consider between a local and a foreign coach because Vietnam has many good coaches.

Secondly, what are the criteria for choosing a coach? VFF still negotiates with representatives of foreign coaches. It only knows coaches through their CV and certificates. It is suggested that VFF should meet candidates to discuss directly with them about strategy, training methodology, etc. VFF can understand the candidates if they stay in Vietnam for a week.

Thirdly, what are the missions of the new coach? VFF will have to cooperate with the National Coaching Council to set missions for the coach.

Lastly, VFF will have to bring harmony between the foreign coach and Vietnamese players because they belong to two different cultures.

VFF was supposed to announce who would become the national coach on April 15 but has been delaying the decision since.

Earlier, VFF had shortlisted five top candidates out of 40 candidates in the final selection round: they are Juergen Gede and Falko Goetz from Germany, Pierre Lechantre (France), Steve Sampson (US) and Eduardo Martinho Viganda (Portugal).

Pierre Lechantre and Steve Sampson have been judged most competent but as they demand a high salary, VFF turned them down.

German’s Falko Goetz, 49, is described as a qualified coach who introduces a coaching style that suits Vietnamese football. In addition, he suggests an acceptable salary rate, according to a source close to the Vietnam’s football governing body.

The seat of Vietnam’s coach has been left empty since early March after the resignation of Portuguese coach Henrique Calisto, who had cited unfair public criticism by Vietnamese media against him and his men after their failure at the 2010 Suzuki Cup as the main reason.

PV