V. League club to deploy assistant coach as striker

Although Kesley, now 41, of Brazilian descent, hung up his boots in 2019, he was registered by Binh Duong on Sunday for the 2022 season.

Kesley is considered one of the greatest foreign players in V. League. He joined Binh Duong in 2005 and has won three V. League titles with the club. During his 14 years in V. League, Kesley had 269 appearances and scored 143 goals.

In 2009, he gained Vietnamese citizenship and was called up to the Vietnam national football team.

Kesley announced his retirement from football in 2019. He became an assistant coach for Binh Duong in 2021.

But after only eight games, Binh Duong decided to bring him back to the pitch.

This decision might be explained by the fact that Binh Duong’s two foreign strikers, Brazilian Teofilo Eydison and Gambian Ceesey Dawda, haven’t scored any goal this season, leading to poor results. Binh Duong are currently placed ninth with nine points after nine games.

The club also found it difficult to add another foreign striker, deciding to field Kesley rather than using players from the youth team.

With Kesley exiting retirement, Binh Duong will have to find another assistant coach.