ĐÀ NẴNG — Former Việt Nam national football coach Edson Araujo Tavares will go head-to-head with his old national player Nguyễn Minh Phương of SHB Đà Nẵng in an international friendly match between Yokohama FC and Đà Nẵng today.

Tavares, who coached Việt Nam team for two spells in 1996 and 2004, now coaches the Japanese League 2 side, with the team gearing up for the new season in February.

The Japanese team have trained in the central city since January 16th to prepare for the match and season.

“I’m very happy to return to Việt Nam and have a friendly match here. I was the first foreign coach for Việt Nam more than 20 years ago. The friendly will be a test for our players after several days training in Đà Nẵng, and a warm-up for the new football season in Japan,” Tavares said at a pre-match press conference yesterday.

“Our players will play their socks off as they want to show their power and fitness before the new football season kicks off,” he said.

The Japanese team brought a 25-player squad to train in Đà Nẵng, with the Brazilian coach naming the world’s oldest professional footballer Kazuyoshi Miura, 51, in his squad.

Tavares said Miura is a milestone for world football when he still plays as a professional player.

Miura said he’ll try his best to play football as long as he can.

The Brazilian coach has some aces in his hands including Ibba Laajab of Norway, Korean Jeong Chung Geun, Calvin Ray Jong A Pin from the Netherlands and Brazilian Leandro Dominiques Barbosa.  

SHB Đà Nẵng’s captain, Hoàng Minh Tâm said the match is the debut for the team’s new coach Nguyễn Minh Phương, and it’s also a farewell event for Lê Huỳnh Đức, who retired as coach after a 10-year run.

Newly-appointed coach Phương said his players are eager for the match at their home Hòa Xuân Stadium when they are revving up for the V.League 1.

Phương said he would test all domestic and foreign players in the friendly to select the best squad for the new football season in Việt Nam.

“We’ll play an exciting match with Yokohama for local fans. It’s also my first match since I took the team’s driving seat two weeks ago. And it’s a very interesting match with my former coach, Tavares when I played for the national team,” Phương said.

Phương, a former SHB Đà Nẵng captain, will test new foreigners including Brandon Marquee, Zeba Josip from Croatia and Brazilian Rosa Tardin Douglas in the match.

The friendly match, which will start at 3.30pm next Saturday, will form part of activities marking the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Japan and Việt Nam.  — VNS