Million dollar coach Harry Kewell of Hanoi FC: Which team will he face in the first match, can he win?

Coach Harry Kewell's debut match as 'captain' of Hanoi FC is a home match against top team Ninh Binh.

Coach Harry Kewell's difficult debut

Hanoi FC has announced a new head coach (replacing Mr. Yusuke Adachi who is currently in the interim position), Harry Kewell, the famous former striker who played for Liverpool and Leeds United in the Premier League.

The former Liverpool star's debut match will be against Ninh Binh Club in round 7 of the Premier League, taking place at 7:15 p.m. on October 18 at Hang Day Stadium.

This is a very difficult match for Kewell, when Ninh Binh is flying high at the top of V-League. Although they drew both recent matches against Hai Phong (2-2) and The Cong Viettel (1-1), Ninh Binh is still a strong team, possessing great potential both financially and in terms of domestic and foreign forces.

Hanoi Club's match schedule in October

PHOTO: HANOI CLUB

After 6 rounds, Ninh Binh has 14 points (4 wins, 2 draws), leading the table. Meanwhile, Hanoi FC is ranked 6th with 8 points. If they defeat Ninh Binh FC, the home team Hanoi will narrow the gap to 3 points, and at the same time mark their return to the exciting championship race. Under the hands of interim coach Yusuke Adachi, Hanoi FC has defeated Thanh Hoa (3-2) and Da Nang (2-0) in the last 2 matches.

Coach Kewell has the advantage of having 2 weeks during FIFA Days to get to know his players, test tactics and impart training methods. This is a golden time for the former Australian striker to understand more about Hanoi FC.

Million dollar rookie

Kewell, along with Tim Cahill and Mark Viduka, is the most successful Australian international in Premier League history. He played for Leeds United from 1995 to 2003, including the early 2000s when Leeds dominated the Premier League.

This was the period when Kewell was valued at 10 million euros (about 300 billion VND). Remember, 10 million euros 25 years ago was a huge number that not many stars could reach.

Harry Kewell once helped Yokohama F.Marinos win the Asian Cup 1 runner-up.

PHOTO: AFP

In 2003, Kewell moved to Liverpool with a contract of 8.5 million euros, starting the golden period of his career when he and the "Red Brigade" won the 2004-2005 Champions League with a miraculous comeback in Istanbul against AC Milan (drawing 3-3 after being down 0-3). The following season, Liverpool won the 2005-2006 FA Cup, then continued to reach the final of the 2006-2007 Champions League. However, this time, Kewell and his teammates lost 1-2 to AC Milan thanks to a double from Filippo Inzaghi.

In 2008, Kewell left English football and retired from the top flight. He played for Galatasaray for another 3 years, then played for Melbourne Heart, Al-Gharafa and Melbourne Victory before retiring, ending a brilliant career.

As a coach, Kewell has coached clubs in England such as Crawley Town, Notts County, Oldham Athletic and Barnet.

In 2022, he joined the coaching staff of Celtic Club (Scotland) as an assistant to coach Ange Postecoglou, before taking over as head coach of Yokohama F. Marinos in early 2024. Under his leadership, the Japanese team won the runner-up position in the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League.

The 2023-2024 AFC Champions League runner-up is still the pinnacle of the 1978-born strategist's coaching career. Overall, despite his impressive playing career, Kewell's coaching achievements up to now are not too outstanding.

At Hanoi FC, Kewell will have the opportunity to prove his coaching ability. In the 20th anniversary season, the capital team is eager to win the V-League. The last time Hanoi FC was crowned V-League champion was 3 years ago.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-trieu-usd-harry-kewell-cua-clb-ha-noi-gap-doi-nao-tran-dau-thang-duoc-khong-18525100411235411.htm