Two South Americans shortlisted for Ali’s post

dubai — The announcement of the new coach for the UAE football team will have to wait a bit longer with the UAE Football Association (UAEFA) saying that they had narrowed down the short list to two coaches.

The UAEFA Board members met at the FA headquarters in Al Khawaneej on Wednesday afternoon, and after a marathon meeting which lasted three hours, said that they had trimmed the list from four to two.

The UAEFA didn’t reveal the names of the two candidates but did say that they were of South American origin.

“The UAEFA President Marwan bin Ghalita and Vice President Abdulla Nasser Al Junaibi will begin negotiations with these two coaches after which they will select one. The announcement will be made in the next few days. The new coach will be from South America,” a UAEFA spokesman told the media.

The names that were doing the rounds earlier were former Argentina boss Edguardo Bauza, Colombia’s Reinaldo Rueda, Peru coach Ricardo Gareca as well as former Germany and USA coach Juergen Klinsmann.

Earlier in the day, current Al Ahli and former Al Ain coach Cosmin Olaroiu was said to be a strong contender, considering his rich experience here and a trophy-laden stint in the UAE. But with the UAEFA announcing that the new coach will be from South America, the Romanian is not in the picture anymore.

The UAEFA were set to name a new coach last Saturday but then postponed the meeting to Wednesday.

The UAE are in search of a new coach after Mahdi Ali stepped down after five years. The Whites’ hopes of qualifying for the World Cup in Russia next year hangs in the balance after recent defeats to Japan and Australia. The UAE are set to meet Thailand in June.

james@khaleejtimes.com