History beckons for UAE as Cosmin Olaroiu arrives with World Cup qualification teasingly close

Most successful domestic coach faces massive test in first week at helm of the national team, starting with must-win fixture against Uzbekistan

UAE coach Cosmin Olaroiu has urged his players to have belief they can qualify outright for the World Cup. Photo: UAE FA

In a region where football fans are so highly skilled at tifos, the one Sharjah’s fans made to see off their coach in his last match was pleasingly rudimentary.

Not for them the elaborate choreographies of the giant Saudi Arabian clubs, or even their UAE Pro League counterparts – and visitors on the last day of the season – Al Wasl.

Instead, they went for the tried and trusted option of some black emulsion on a big white sheet. It was the thought that counted, though, and the language used.

“Ai parasit echipa, dar alintrat in istorie,” Sharjah's fans had written, using the manager’s mother tongue of Romanian. Translated, it means: You left the team but you made history.

He certainly did that. Cosmin Olaroiu capped a trophy laden stint at the club by taking them to the AFC Champions League Two title in Singapore in May.

That made them just the second club from the UAE – after two-time Champions League winners Al Ain – to lift a major continental title.

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  Sharjah players celebrate after their AFC Champions League Two final victory over Lion City Sailors at Bishan Stadium in Singapore on May 18, 2025. All photos: AFC

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  Sharjah players celebrate after Marcus Meloni's winner

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  Luanzinho on the attack for Sharjah

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  Action from the final between Lion City Sailors and Sharjah

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  Marcus Meloni, second left, celebrates after his stoppage time winner for Sharjah

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  Action from the final between Lion City Sailors and Sharjah

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  Marcos Meloni celebrates after scoring the winner

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  Sharjah defender Cho Yu-min controls the ball

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  Action from the final between Lion city Sailors and Sharjah

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  Sharjah winger Caio Lucas in action during the final

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  Sharjah fans at the Bishan Stadium

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  Toni Datkovic celebrates for Lion City Sailors

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  Luanzinho on the attack for Sharjah

A little over two weeks later, Olaroiu is on the brink of history again, and he has not even taken charge of his new side yet.

Once the powers-that-be had decided to dismiss Paulo Bento as coach of the UAE national team back in March, there only ever felt like one viable option.

Bento’s side had just kept alive their chances of automatic World Cup qualification at the very last in Riyadh. But Sultan Adil’s late, late stoppage time winner over North Korea still failed to save the Portuguese coach’s job.

The following morning, it was announced he was gone, despite there just being two matches left in this phase of Asian qualifying.

The UAE trail second-placed Uzbekistan, who they face at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, by four points, with six still to play for.

Win, and they would need to better whatever result the Uzbeks achieve at home to Qatar on Tuesday when they face Kyrgyzstan at the same time to qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup.

Clearly, the odds are against the national team. Given the situation they are in, the next man in after Bento needed to be the ultimate alpha.

All of which meant it could only be Olaroiu. The hard-faced, no nonsense, serial winner believes it can be done. Which means everyone else must, too.

“They have to,” Olaroiu said. “They have to be positive, and they have to believe. If you don’t believe, you don’t have any chance.

“Now we have this new journey, and when we go there everybody in this team should believe in it. They should believe they can make the dream of this nation come true.

“I think it is one of the countries of the world with one of the biggest improvements and developments in the last [few] years. We should keep pace also in football. This is our mission.”

The can-do attitude marks quite the contrast to the final throes of the Bento regime. Back in March, it felt as though the former Portugal manager had been fighting vainly for appreciation, after a downturn in performances.

“We hope to have a different atmosphere in June because I think that is a good way to show the country supports the team with acts and not just words,” Bento said after the win against North Korea, just hours before he was officially axed.

Now June has arrived, and the atmosphere is entirely different. The UAE FA have flooded their social media feeds with upbeat slogans. They have hired advertising space on billboards on major roads and in shopping malls. All the domestic clubs have joined the mission with goodwill gestures.

And, with it being the Eid holiday weekend, Thursday is likely to be frenzied at the Al Nahyan Stadium.

Olaroiu, for his part, has had less than two weeks with his new charges. It means if he is to bring about success immediately, he will have to rely more on the power of personality than granular planning.

He may know the six-man cohort of Sharjah players in the squad the best, but his expertise is not limited to them. Olaroiu has brought trophies to three UAE clubs in the past: Al Ain, Shabab Al Ahli and Sharjah.

“It is not about only Sharjah players, it is about all the players,” Olaroiu said. “They are players who have value and players who have quality. I think they will come with the hope and belief they can do it.”

Olaroiu has been recruited on a two-year contract. The national team are guaranteed a place in October’s six-team repechage tournament, which for sides who miss out on a top two place in this phase of Asian qualifying.

One significant feature of his successes at domestic level was the tight bond he created with his players. A notable example of that came in the aftermath of Sharjah’s 2-1 win over Lion City Sailors in the Champions League Two final in Singapore.

While his players celebrated, Olaroiu tenderly looked after the two young sons of Caio Lucas, the striker who will likely be his talisman at national team level, too.

Whether Olaroiu can strike up such a deep affection with his new players and their families when – because of the nature of the job – he sees them so much less remains to be seen. But Lucas is optimistic it can be done.

“We have to be like a family,” Lucas said. “It doesn’t matter how, but we have to do our best inside the pitch to make our fans happy.

“Whenever we go inside the pitch it is to win, and this will be no different. When we speak about the national team, the coach [has] the best players in the league.

“I think we have a chance to qualify and we are going there to do our best and make our fans happy.”