Paulo Bento, the coach of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) national soccer team, who led Korean soccer, achieved a resounding victory even before his debut.
Coach Bento’s UAE beat Costa Rica 4-1 in the A match held at the Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb, Croatia on the 13th (Korean time).
Coach Bento, who left Korea after the 2022 Qatar World Cup, took charge of the UAE last July. His three-year contract will see him lead the UAE through to the 2026 North and Central America World Cup.안전놀이터
So far, many world-renowned leaders have led the UAE,
On the other hand, Korean national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who took the helm since last February, had a very shaky start. After struggling with 3 draws and 2 losses in 5 A matches, he achieved his first win with a hard-fought 1-0 win against Saudi Arabia on the 13th. ‘World Cup Star’ Cho Gyu-seong scored the winning goal with a header.
Korea, ranked 28th in the FIFA rankings, drew 2-2 with Colombia and lost 1-2 to Uruguay in the A match last March. In June, they lost 0-1 to Peru and drew 1-1 with El Salvador. On the 8th, in the match against Wales, ranked 35th in FIFA, which is lower than Korea, the team ended up with a 0-0 draw, being outshot by 4 to 11. Klinsmann was the first coach without a win in five games since the full-time manager system was introduced in 1992.
Korea and Coach Bento may meet as enemies in the future. The second qualifying round for the North, Central and American World Cup Asia region will be held starting in November. The 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup will be held in Qatar in January next year.
but they have all failed. My performance in international competitions was not good. They also failed to advance to the Qatar World Cup held last year. The last time the UAE took part in the World Cup was in Italy in 1990. Previously, Alberto Zaccheroni and Bert van Mawijk were in charge of the team, but they failed to achieve their dream.
At the time of his appointment, Coach Bento said, “I came for work, not vacation. I have enough information and will work to build a good and stable team. I think I can make UAE fans happy with a win.”
Coach Bento kept his promise even before his debut. It was a refreshing shock to capture Costa Rica, which is considered to have strong power. Looking at the FIFA rankings, the UAE is 72nd and Costa Rica is 46th. However, on this day, the UAE created a surprise with an explosive attack that scored 4 goals.
In the previous match, on the 9th, Costa Rica won 3-1 against Saudi Arabia, a fellow Middle Eastern country. However, it could not overcome Bento’s UAE.
Coach Bento brought out the 4-2-3-1 formation. We played aggressively from the beginning of the first half.
Starting with Al Ghasani’s first goal in the 16th minute of the first half, the UAE scored consecutive goals by Kaio Kanedo in the 23rd minute and Ali Salmin in the 38th minute. They took a 3-0 lead in the first half.
The good atmosphere continued in the second half. In the 8th minute of the second half, UAE effectively scored a goal when Al Ghasani hit the net again.
UAE allowed a chasing goal to Costa Rica’s Julio Cesar Castante Solorsano in the 19th minute of the second half. However, the score gap had already widened considerably, so it did not have much of an impact on the win or loss.
The UAE Football Association rejoiced on its official SNS, saying, “The UAE national team won against Costa Rica.”
Coach Bento was in charge of the Korean national team from 2018 to 2022. He left behind achievements such as winning the 2019 East Asia Cup and advancing to the round of 16 of the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Korea advanced to the World Cup round of 16 for the first time in 12 years since the 2010 South Africa tournament. Coach Bento is also the ‘longest-serving’ coach who has led the Korean national team for the longest time.
Coach Bento pushed for a return to Europe before taking office in the UAE. Immediately after the Qatar World Cup, there were rumors that he would be appointed as the coach of the Polish national team. However, the Polish national team appointed coach Fernando Santos, who led Portugal, as their new head coach instead of coach Bento.
Instead, Coach Bento took the helm of the UAE national team and once again continued his career as a coach on the Asian stage. In addition, Coach Bento has experience coaching Chongqing Dangdai Lifan (China), Olympiakos (Greece), Cruzeiro (Brazil), the Portuguese national team, and Sporting Lisbon.