Miura fired as head VN coach

The Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) decided to sack Japanese head coach Toshiya Miura from the national senior and U23 men's football teams at a meeting in HCM City yesterday.

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The VFF will compensate Miura for terminating his two-year contract before it was officially due to end on April 30.

The VFF expressed appreciation for Miura's contributions to national football during his reign. Under the guidance of the 52-year-old, Viet Nam made the AFF Cup 2014 semi-finals, while the U23s earned a bronze medal at the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore and reached the last eight of the Asian Games in Incheon before entering the 2016 AFC U23 Championship finals for the first time.


However, the VFF agreed that the style of play needed to change in order to adapt to the teams' strengths.

At the meeting, the National Coach Council nominated Le Huynh Duc and Nguyen Huu Thang to temporarily replace Miura to lead Viet Nam at the World Cup 2018 qualifiers. Viet Nam will meet Chinese Taipei on March 24 and Iraq on March 29.

Although Miura made mistakes during his guidance, most Vietnamese footballers still love and respect him.

"I thank Miura for all he has done. He is a passionate and responsible coach. I wish him all the best for the future," said striker Vo Huy Toan via Facebook.

Miura started his coaching career in 1997 at J-League club Vegalta Sendai before moving to Mito Holly Hock, Omiya Ardija, Sapporo, Vissel Kobe and Ventforet Kofu from 1998-2011.

He was awarded an ‘S' level coaching certificate by the Japan Football Association, which is equivalent to the professional coaching certificate granted by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

In addition, he won an ‘A' grade coaching certificate granted by the German Football Federation, which is recognised by UEFA.