THE ITALIAN JOB
Alberto Zaccheroni, the new UAE football team coach, hopes to build a competitive team with a strong personality which can go on and win the AFC Asian Cup on home soil in 2019. The highly-rated Italian, who boasts a very impressive CV, was officially unveiled by the UAE Football Association (UAEFA) at their headquarters in Al Khawaneej on Tuesday afternoon.
The 64-year-old, who led Japan to the AFC Asian Cup in 2011, was handed a contract which will see him lead the Whites at the tournament to be held in the UAE in 2019. Zaccheroni replaces Argentine Edgardo Bauza, who left in September to take the reins at Saudi Arabia.
“I’m very excited about leading the UAE at the AFC Asian Cup in 2019. It is a big challenge for me. I always focus on teamwork with the whole team,” Zaccheroni said after his unveiling.
“The UAE players have great talent. I hope to build a competitive team for the AFC Asian Cup, which is hosted by the UAE. And I, like the tailor, will work out a game plan that matches the capabilities of the players,” he added.
Zaccheroni, who also helped Japan qualify for the World Cup in 2014, said that it was important not to dwell on the past and look to the future.
The UAE again missed out on qualifying for the World Cup in Russia in 2018 after finishing fourth behind Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia in their group.
“I have to concentrate on the future and not what happened in the past. As the (UAEFA) president said, it is a very big and important challenge for everybody and we need to collaborate to achieve this goal. Clearly, that is my responsibility as a coach and together with the players, to do our best and overcome the disappointment of not qualifying for the World Cup,” said Zaccheroni, who has coached top Serie A clubs AC Milan, Lazio, Inter Milan and Juventus.
He won the Scudetto with AC Milan in the 1998-99 season. Zaccheroni was also named the Serie A Coach of the Year in 1999.
Zaccheroni revealed that he had a fair idea about the UAE team after having watched videos as well as having coached Japan in a friendly against them in 2012, during Emirati coach Mahdi Ali’s reign.
“I have seen videos of the UAE team and seen some of the players in the friendly game against Japan, when I was coaching Japan. We won 1-0 and I saw some very good players and they played a very good game,” he said.
Zaccheroni said that the hard yards will be put in, in the coming period during which the team will play many friendlies.
“We will play with a formation which is best suited for the UAE team. We will play many friendlies to get us prepared for the challenges ahead. These experiences will benefit the team. It is very important to develop a plan based on the players selected. My goal is to build a team with a strong personality, able to impose its style and win the respect of the opponents,” Zaccheroni said.
The UAE are scheduled to play a friendly against Egypt during the next international break next month and Zaccheroni will meet the players soon and keep track of them in the Arabian Gulf League.
Meanwhile, UAEFA president Marwan bin Ghalita said that achieving success in the AFC Asian Cup in 2019 was the prime target. The team had finished runners-up in 1996 and third in 2015.
“We are aiming at winning the AFC Asian Cup in 2019 after finishing second and third. That is our main goal,” Marwan bin Ghalita said.
“The Board of Directors is committed to providing all the support for the success of the 2019 project. We will allocate a special account to communicate with the public, receive proposals and address all the negatives before the challenge, because the fans of the UAE deserve more, and this is what we are working to achieve,” he added.
I hope to build a competitive team for the AFC Asian Cup, which will be hosted by the UAE — Alberto Zaccheroni