Determining the new role of coach Vũ Hồng Việt after parting ways with Thép Xanh Nam Định

Coach Vũ Hồng Việt resigned as head coach of Thép Xanh Nam Định after their 1-3 loss to Gamba Osaka in the group stage of the 2025/26 AFC Champions League. The club’s management promoted Mr. Nguyễn Trung Kiên to head coach.

This afternoon, October 24,the leadership of Thép Xanh Nam Định decided to appoint Mr. Nguyễn Trung Kiên as head coach. Mr. Vũ Hồng Việt moved to the position of Technical Director.

Mr. Nguyễn Trung Kiên, born in 1979, was trained in Nam Định’s youth academy and played as a midfielder. He formerly played for Nam Định, Cảng Sài Gòn, and was called up to the Vietnam national team. Since 2023, he has returned as Technical Director of Thép Xanh Nam Định. He worked closely with coach Vũ Hồng Việt to win two V-League titles and one Vietnamese Super Cup over the last three seasons.

The 1-3 defeat to Gamba Osaka on October 22 in the third round of Group F in the 2025/26 AFC Champions League marked Thép Xanh Nam Định’s fifth consecutive match without a win across all competitions.

In the 2025/26 V-League, Thép Xanh Nam Định repeatedly stumbled against SLNA, Ninh Bình, Công an Hà Nội, Becamex TP.HCM, and only managed a draw with CA TP.HCM. These results caused coach Vũ Hồng Việt’s team to drop to 10th place on the standings, just 2 points above the relegation zone, which is quite modest considering their squad is valued at over 10 million euros.