HÀ NỘI — Spanish coach Bruno Garcia has said goodbye to the Vietnamese national futsal team after guiding the team to the round of 16 at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia, according to the Việt Nam Football Federation (VFF).

“From bottom of my heart, I thank the VFF—especially to head of the Việt Nam futsal team Trần Anh Tú—who understand and respect my decision as well as support my work. Thank you for letting me be a part of your dream of playing in the World Cup,” said Garcia.

Via the VFF, Garcia also expressed his heartfell thanks to players and fans.

Garcia helped Việt Nam into Asia’s top four teams and into the top 16 of strongest teams in the world. He also helped Thái Sơn Nam futsal club win bronze medal at the 2015 Asia futsal clubs championships and silver medal at the 2016 Southeast Asian futsal clubs championships.

He previously led many futsal clubs in his country. He then coached the Hangzhou Zhejiang Dragons team, which ranked second at the Chinese futsal championships.

Before going to Việt Nam, he was the coach of the Peruvian national futsal squad.

During his coaching career, Garcia won the Ramon Cobo Award for the most excellent futsal coach in the Spanish Football Federation during the 2011-2012 season.

According to Tú, captain Nguyễn Bảo Quân will temporarily replace Gracia at the coming Southeast Asian tournament.

“I will meet many pressures when coaching the Việt Nam team because the squad has recently met such good results. However, I am ready to face the challenges,” said Quân. — VNS