The Portuguese Paulo Bento will coach the United Arab Emirates national team, signing a three-year contract until 2026, after leaving South Korea last December, the United Arab Emirates Football Association announced on Sunday.
“The Football Association of the United Arab Emirates has hired the Portuguese coach Paulo Bento to take charge of the functions of our first national team for the next three years,” the organization reported on the official website on the Internet.
The 54-year-old Portuguese coach, who spent more than five years as South Korea’s coach, a position he assumed in August 2018 by winning a trophy, the East Asian Cup, in 2019, stressed that he seeks victories, without looking to the past.
“Conquering victories is the way to make the fans of Emirates happy, focusing on the present, looking to the future, but without looking to the past,” said Paulo Bento, during the press conference held at the organization’s headquarters in Dubai.
The former Portugal coach, between 2010 and 2014, revealed that “he will seek to get to know the players more rigorously”, stressing that he wants an “ambitious team to achieve its objectives”.
“We will try to get to know the players more closely in the next period, visiting their fields abroad, to prepare for the new season. The selection criteria at this stage are based on elements of performance and behavior, regardless of age, ”he concluded. .
Paulo Bento has been out of the limelight since the elimination of South Korea in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar, in a match against Brazil (4-1), and now he is preparing to lead the third team of his career.
The former Portuguese international soccer player began his coaching career at senior level at Sporting, rising from the juniors to taking charge of Portugal’s national team, Brazil’s Cruzeiro, Greece’s Olympiacos and Chongqing Dandai’s Chinese team.
Source: TSF
