Football

Harry Kewell will take charge of Hà Nội FC with details of their deal hasn't been revealed. Photo courtesy of Hà Nội FC

HÀ NỘI -- Former V.League 1 champions Hà Nội FC have appointed UEFA Champions League winner Harry Kewell their new head coach of the season.

He took over as the long-term replacement for Japan's Makoto Teguramori.

The club on October 4 announced the news that made global headlines as many media hubs such as Reuters, Yahoo News and The Straits Times wrote about him.

"Hi football fans of Viet Nam. Harry Kewell is here, the coach of Hà Nội FC. Looking forward to coming over and can't wait to start. So see you soon!" Kewell sent a message through a video clip.

Kewell, 47, has been a well-known name in the Vietnamese football community which includes huge number of Liverpool supporters.

In his career, the former Liverpool and Leeds United winger played 56 matches for the Australian national team and took part in two World Cups in 2006 and 2010. He scored 17 goals.

In the club level, Kewell won UEFA Champions League trophy in the 2004-05 season and FA Cup in 2005-06.

After his retirement at age 36, Kewell worked as a coach in 2017 as he took charge of Crawley Town, Notts County, Oldham Athletic and Barnet in England.

In 2022, he joined Celtic FC in Scotland as an assistant for head coach Ange Postecoglou before taking the hot seat in Yokohama F. Marinos in the J-League early 2024. 

Kewell led them to the final of the Asian Champions League in 2024. Kewell was fired two months later after a poor run of form in domestic competition last July.

"With extensive experience in Europe both in his career as a player and in coaching, coach Harry Kewell is expected to bring a new wind, contributing to raising the level of Hanoi Football Club on the journey to conquer goals in the domestic arena and aspire to reach the continent," Hà Nội FC stated in its social channel.

Hà Nội FC have not reached their good performance after six matches. They have had eight points and placed sixth in the ranking with a six-point gap with the leading team Ninh Bình FC.

These two sides will play each other in the next match on October 18 at the Hàng Đẫy Stadium. VNS