Vietnam’s football governing body has decided to break with traditionally employing a foreign coach and instead will offer the position of national team coach to a domestic manager with the tantalising offer of a lucrative salary.

Pham Thanh Tung is one of the favourites for national team coach

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) plans to pay a Vietnamese coach VND200 million (USD9,592) per month for the task.

However, following the dismissal of former coach Falko Goetz as a result of his failures at the SEA Games, the National Coaches Council and VFF are finding it difficult to select a domestic candidate experienced enough to lead the national football team.

Most of candidates currently have stable jobs with comfortable salaries at their clubs.

In order to intensify efforts to find a national team coach, the VFF Standing Commitee agreed at a meeting on February 28 that they may recruit a candidate who could fulfil their national team tasks part-time, while they continue to work in the domestic league.

According to VFF Chairman Nguyen Hy, the major candidates for this post include favourite Mai Duc Chung, who currently leads the Under-19s national team; Phan Thanh Tung at Hanoi T&T, Le Huynh Duc from SHB Danang, Nguyen Huu Thang from Song Lam Nghe An, and Nguyen Van Sy from Vissai Ninh Binh.

The Vice Chairman, who is responsible for VFF finances said that along with the coach receiving a giant salary, his assistants would also pocket between VND70 million and VND100 million (USD3,357-USD4,796) a month.

The VFF will co-ordinate with the National Coaches Council to shortlist candidates and begin interviewing potential candidates in March.

The selected coach will lead both the Vietnam Olympic and national football teams. However wins the job, will be tasked with qualifying for the forthcoming Asian U-22 championship in June.

He will also have to select football players for the national team to prepare for the AFF Cup 2012 scheduled to take place in Thailand and Malaysia.

To date, Mai Duc Chung has been the only candidate who has expressed an interest. Chung had led B. Binh Duong and Navibank SG, and he has proved popular with members of the National Coaches Council.

Apart from his leadership experience, Chung is highly appreciated for his work with the national woman football team, who qualified for the three most recent SEA Games. He led the Vietnam U-22s team that won the Mecdeka 2008 Cup and has acted as assistant to several foreign coaches over the years.