Assistant becomes interim coach of U23 Vietnam team

The decision was made by Park himself, who couldn’t coach the U23 team as he is busy with the national team for their two final World Cup qualifiers this month. Lee’s duty will be supervising the team during training to prepare for Dubai Cup that will take place at the end of March, SEA Games 31 in May and U23 Asian Cup in June. Assisting Lee will be two domestic coaches and physical expert Cedric Roger.

According to the initial plan, Gong Oh-kyun was supposed to coach the U23 team through Park’s recommendation to Vietnam Football Federation. However, the deal was postponed due to some problems related to Gong’s coaching license.

Lee became assistant coach to Park in 2017. Together, they have achieved many historic feats for Vietnamese football, such as winning the AFF Cup 2018 title and advancing to the final round of World Cup qualifiers for the first time ever.

At 2022 Dubai Cup, Vietnam will face Iraq in round one on March 23, then Croatia in round two three days later. From round three, the fixtures will be decided based on standings after the first two rounds. The first position will face the second, third will play fourth, fifth will play sixth and so on. The final result will be decided after round three.