Al Rayyan part ways with coach Cordova
AL Rayyan Club on Monday announced the departure of Chilean coach Nicolas Cordova, the coach of their first football team, with the expiry of his contract with the club.
In a statement, the club thanked the Chilean coach for the time he spent with the team.
Al Rayyan management is currently conducting numerous consultations with some coaching names to take over the leadership of the team in the new football season 2023/2024.
For his part, Cordova expressed his happiness with his stint during which he took charge of Al Rayyan team during the past two seasons, saying: “It was wonderful unforgettable moments, and undoubtedly they were not without difficulties and for me I cannot forget this wonderful experience here in Al Rayyan as well as with the young players who have become part of the Qatari national team, and I wish all the best to Al Rayyan Club in the next stage.”
Al Rayyan had sought the help of the 43-year-old Cordova at the end of the 2021/2022 season to succeed former French coach Laurent Blanc, despite his supervision at the time of the Qatari national under-23 training after the approval of the Qatari Federation.
The former Chilean youth coach Cordova led Al Rayyan to reach the finals of the AFC Champions League for the first time in the history of the team’s participation in the continental championship since the introduction of its new system in 2003, before losing to Al Duhail by a penalty shootout (6-7) after a 1-1 draw.
And with the renewal of his contract in June 2022, the former coach of the Palestine, Santiago Wanderers clubs in Chile and Universitario of Bolivia did not succeed in leading Al Rayyan locally as the team suffered and remained in the danger zone and threatened with relegation to the second division until the last round of the 2022/2023 season of QNB Stars League before occupying the 9th place with 20 points from 5 wins, 5 draws, and 12 defeats.
Cordova was also unable to pass the group stage in the AFC U-23 Championship with the Qatari national team and surprisingly exited the group stage, after defeating Turkmenistan (2-0) and drawing with Iran (1-1) and suffering a heavy loss against Uzbekistan (0-6).