ĐÀ NẴNG —Lê Huỳnh Đức has agreed to take the driving seat of V.League 1 side SHB Đà Nẵng after the central city’s football team sacked Nguyễn Minh Phương early this month.

Spokeswoman Huỳnh Thị Kim Phước confirmed to Việt Nam News that Đức, 46, who resigned as coach of SHB Đà Nẵng in 2017 after a poor season, had accepted an invitation to return to the club.

Phước said Đức was on vacation in Australia and would return to Việt Nam in late November.

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

Đức 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.

Nguyễn Minh Phương, 38, replaced Đức, but the team finished 9th in 2018.

HCM City-born Đức played for Đà Nẵng from 2006 before he took over as coach in 2008.

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

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

Đức 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 Việt Nam Football Federation.

During his playing career, Đức 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.

Đức 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. — VNS