Coach Phan Thanh Hung is unlikely to be able to keep his chair at the national football team, and the position will be replaced by a foreigner, most likely a Japanese coach, said a chief official of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF). Da Nang-born Hung, 52, is the first-ever domestic coach to take the wheel at the national squad, but his debut at the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup is nothing but a complete failure. Vietnam was kicked out of the tournament after the group stage with only 1 point, and the future of coach Hung has thus come into question. “[Hung] has shown local fans a team that is both physically and mentally weak,” said the official who prefers to be anonymous. “Should he not step down from the post, VFF will still end his contract early,” he added. VFF will consider hiring a foreign coach, and it may be a Japanese one, he said. The VFF said it will listen to the report and explanation of the coaching panel on Wednesday, and will release the final announcement in a media meeting on the same day. Many VFF officials said whether Hung will leave the national team or not is something that will be determined by the coach himself. Hung still has one year with the team, according to the contract he signed with VFF, under which he accepted the targets to lead the team through to the finals of the 2012 AFF Cup, and the 2013 SEA Games. While he has obviously failed to achieve the first target, many analysts said the team failure at the AFF Cup is not merely due to his coaching ability.