Le Huynh Duc has agreed to take the driving seat of V.League 1 side SHB Da Nang after the city’s football team sacked Nguyen Minh Phuong early this month.

Coach Le Huynh Duc, 46, has agreed to return as coach of SHB Da Nang for the V.League1 in 2019. — Photo courtesy Sports and Culture Newspaper.

Spokeswoman Huynh Thi Kim Phuoc confirmed to Viet Nam News that Duc, 46, who resigned as coach of SHB Da Nang in 2017 after a poor season, had accepted an invitation to return to the club.

Phuoc said Duc was on vacation in Australia and would return to Viet Nam in late November.

She said the team would negotiate with terms of the contract on Duc’s return.

Duc left the team in November 2017 after the team finished eighth out of 14 teams in the V.League, the worst position in history of the team.

Nguyen Minh Phuong, 38, replaced Duc, but the team finished 9^th in 2018.

HCM City-born Duc played for Da Nang from 2006 before he took over as coach in 2008.

During his 10 years with the team, Duc won two V.League titles in 2009 and 2012, one National Cup in 2009 and one National Super Cup in 2012.

He also led Da Nang to the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup in 2010.

Duc was assistant coach for the national team and U23 team in 2009, but he refused to coach the national team after several invitations from the Viet Nam Football Federation.

During his playing career, Duc had won three Golden Ball awards for the best Vietnamese footballer in 1995, 1997 and 2002, and two Top Scorer awards in 1996-97.

He was the first Vietnamese footballer to play overseas for Chongqing Lifan of China on a one-year loan.

He scored 34 goals for the national team from 1995 - 2004.

Duc attained the AFC Professional Football Coaching Diploma, which is also known as the AFC Pro Diploma, the highest level of coaching accreditation issued by the AFC, in 2017.

(Source:  VNS/ DA NANG Today)