If nothing changes, German coach Falko Goetz will arrive in Hanoi in the next few days to sign a contract to serve as coach of Vietnam’s national football squad.

 

Earlier, the coach scheduled to come to Hanoi on May 6 with his representative Andrea Milz, but the plan failed since Goetz could not quickly get a visa to Vietnam.

  

Milz told Vietnam’s Sports & Culture Newspaper on the phone on May 4, that Goetz and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) had reached agreements on fundamental terms, such as wages, contract duration, etc. The two sides will discuss some details in the upcoming meeting in Hanoi before signing the contract.

 

According to Milz, the contract will be two years and it clearly points out the missions of the new coach. The German coach will not have a probation period.

 

In related news, VFF official met with a German agency in Vietnam. This agency has had positive influences on the affair between Goetz and the VFF. In previous meetings with VFF, this agency confirmed that if Goetz becomes coach of Vietnam’s national male football team, it would assist VFF technically and financially.

 

Since the contract between Goetz and VFF is not signed yet, some are lobbying for Bulgarian coach Hristo Stoichkov. However, VFF Chair Nguyen Trong Hy denied the lobby.

 

Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov will not be a head coach of the Vietnamese national football team and he has never discussed the job with Vietnam Football Federation, confirmed by Hy on May 3.

 

According to Hy, Mr. Stoichkov had a talk with VFF officials last week for a business project of his friend, a Bulgarian billionaire and owner of the infrastructure construction corporation Nove Holding, based in Bulgaria and bidding to operate several projects in Vietnam.

 

Regarding the news that Nove Holding will sponsor the entire salary for the coach – around US$1 million a year, Hy said, “it has never existed story that something is given away for nothing. And Mr. Stoichkov has never been shortlisted by the VFF to coach national sides”.

 

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 they demanded 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.

 

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.

 

(Vietnamnet)