Ho Chi Minh City seeks to recruit Lee Nguyen; Coach Park Hang-seo delays return to Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City seeks to recruit Lee Nguyen
"We are negotiating to recruit Lee Nguyen. However, we do not know when he will arrive at Ho Chi Minh City Club," Chairman Nguyen Huu Thang said at noon on February 15. "The current problem is financial, and because negotiations are ongoing, we cannot share specifics."

Lee Nguyen's transfer fee could be up to millions of dollars, and the player himself, born in 1986, also demands a very high salary.

Lee Nguyen played for HAGL Club in the 2009-2010 season, then left the mountain town and joined Binh Duong in the 2010-2011 season.

After 2 years playing football in Vietnam, this Vietnamese-American player criticized the violence of the V-League, so he returned to the US to develop his career. He then played for the New England Revolution from 2012-2018, playing 191 matches, scoring 51 goals. In the 2018-2019 season, he played for Los Angeles FC, playing 58 matches, scoring 3 goals. Currently, the 33-year-old Vietnamese-American player is on the payroll of Inter Miami, a club owned by David Beckham.

Coach Park Hang-seo postpones return to Vietnam

A representative of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) confirmed that Head Coach Park Hang-seo cannot return to Vietnam as scheduled on February 15. Because Vietnam's professional football tournaments have been postponed, even if he arrives early as originally planned, Mr. Park will have nothing to do.

The leader of Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) Tran Anh Tu once declared that he would not let the postponement of this year's professional football tournaments affect the national teams' training plans. Mr. Park himself and the VFF also regularly exchanged plans via email and phone so as not to delay the team's work.

Coach Park postponed his return to Vietnam until February 20 or 22. Photo: AFC.

Regarding the preparation plan for the friendly match with Iraq, it was Coach Park who proactively suggested holding the match in the South, where the climate and weather conditions are similar to Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, to help the players have time to adapt and prepare. Although he is not yet in Vietnam, Coach Park and VFF have discussed in detail the plan to hold this friendly match on March 26.

Heerenveen coach refuses to reveal starting lineup

On the evening of February 16, Heerenveen visited Vitesse in the Dutch National Championship. Coach Johnny Jansen is being criticized by fans and the media for keeping the same starting lineup in many consecutive matches.

According to Leeuwarder Courant, coach Jansen refused to answer the question of whether to keep or change the starting lineup. He shared that he is waiting for the health status of the entire Heerenveen team to make a final decision. "Some players are having a hard time after the loss to Feyenoord," coach Jansen revealed.
Heerenveen fans are looking forward to the first start of new signing Runar Espejord. Espejord played 20 minutes against Feyenoord and impressed with a shot that hit the crossbar. However, Espejord is not 100% fit for the next match and the striker position still belongs to Jens Odgaard.

“Can Espejord play 60 minutes? I don’t know. Odgaard will probably play up front once again,” coach Jansen emphasized.

Heerenveen have been through a disappointing run of matches in the Dutch league, failing to win in their last five matches (two draws and three losses). Meanwhile, Vitesse are unbeaten in their last four matches, holding sixth place in the standings. The challenge for coach Jansen and his team is all the greater as they are playing away from home.

Van Hau's team is currently ranked 9th with 29 points. If they lose, Heerenveen could fall to 11th place.