New coaches bring winds of change to Asean Championship

Singapore – Gavin Lee, 35, Singaporean

The youngest head coach at this Asean Championship, Lee cut his teeth in the Singapore Premier League with Warriors FC and Tampines Rovers before being invited by former Lions head coach Tsutomu Ogura to be his assistant.

A meticulous coach who wants his team to play purposeful, possession-based football, Lee made his big break on the international scene by taking over as interim Singapore coach after Ogura stepped down in June 2025.

He then led the Lions to the Asian Cup for the first time since they hosted the tournament in 1984 and took over the reins on a full-time basis.

Indonesia – John Herdman, 51, English

Like Lee, the Englishman began coaching at a young age, when he was still in university, and was a development coach at Sunderland’s academy.

But unlike others, he began his international coaching career with women’s teams in New Zealand and Canada, and led both nations at the Women’s World Cup. Herdman then became the first coach to reach the men and women’s World Cup by taking the Canada men’s team to the biggest stage in 2022.

In 2026, he was unveiled as coach of Indonesia’s senior and Under-23 teams, after Patrick Kluivert was sacked last October.

Timor-Leste – Ze Pedro, 47, Portuguese

The former Portuguese top-division player made his transition to managing at regional side Alcochetense where he last played. Ze Pedro then had several assistant coach stints before he led some lower-league teams on his own.

His job at Timor-Leste marks his first foray into international football coaching.

Thailand – Anthony Hudson, 45, American

Born in the United States but raised in England, the son of former England midfielder Alan Hudson was a former West Ham United academy product who never quite matched his father’s playing career.

After coaching in the lower leagues on both sides of the Atlantic, Anthony Hudson took over youth and senior international teams in Bahrain, New Zealand and the US.

He then coached club sides in Qatar and Thailand before taking over the Thai national team in October 2025.

Laos – Vladica Grujic, 63, Serbian

The oldest coach at this Asean Championship also holds Austrian citizenship, having exclusively played in Austria.

After coaching some smaller Austrian teams, Grujic had a stint as Laos’ assistant coach in 2011.

He then moved to club sides in Japan, Spain, Thailand, India, Serbia and Austria before returning to Laos in February to take over the Laos senior and Under-23 teams.

Malaysia – Tan Cheng Hoe, 58, Malaysian

Technically not a newbie as he was Malaysia’s head coach from 2018 to 2022, Tan is also the only coach in this list to have experienced winning the Asean Championship, when he was assistant to K. Rajagopal in 2010.

After taking teams in the Malaysian and Thai leagues, he returned to Malaysia in 2025 as technical director and assistant coach of the Under-23 national team.

In June, the Kedah native took over as the senior national team’s interim head coach following Australian Peter Cklamovski’s departure.

Myanmar – Jorn Andersen, 63, Norwegian

Perhaps the coach with the most illustrious playing career on this list, Andersen played in Norway, Germany and Switzerland, and has 27 caps for Norway and five international goals.

His coaching career has been even more exotic, with stints in Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Austria, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong and China before he landed in Myanmar in July.

Philippines – Carles Cuadrat, 57, Spanish

A product of Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy, Cuadrat played for Barcelona’s youth teams and featured for the first team in a couple of friendlies. He was also a former Spain youth international.

After injury cut short his career, Cuadrat turned to coaching in El Salvador, India, Cyprus and Denmark before arriving in the Philippines. His appointment as Azkals’ head coach in June 2025 represents continuation as he was the assistant of Albert Capellas before his compatriot stepped down due to personal reasons.