UAE football: New manager to replace Mahdi Ali could be named ‘within days’

Former UAE manager Ali Mahdi, right, is shown ahead of the side's 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Iraq at Mohammed bin Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi on November 15, 2016. Christopher Pike / The National fileShow less

The Football Association hope to have a new national team manager in place within the next seven to 10 days, as they finalise a shortlist for Mahdi Ali’s successor.​

The Emirati, 51, resigned following last month's crunch defeat to Australia in the final stage of qualification for next year's World Cup, bringing to an end four-and-a-half mostly successful years in charge of the senior side.

The 2-0 loss in Sydney was a huge blow to the UAE’s chances of making a second World Cup appearance, coming five days after the 2-0 home defeat to Japan. As such, the UAE sit fourth in Group B, seven points off the automatic qualification spots with only three matches remaining.

They next face bottom-side Thailand in Bangkok on June 15, with their most likely route to Russia now a third-place finish that would progress to a series of play-offs to make the finals. At present, the UAE are four points behind Australia, the reigning Asian champions, in third.

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Read more

■ Outgoing manager Mahdi Ali can be proud of how far he has taken UAE football

■ Answer to who should replace Ali is right on UAE FA's doorstep in shape of Cosmin Olaroiu

■ 'I did my best' says Ali as UAE football manager resigns after defeat to Australia

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The process to appoint a new manager has accelerated this past week, with a new technical committee formed to identify possible candidates. An extensive list of managers with international experience has been considered, with the panel to whittle that down to a select four or five potential appointments, possibly as early as Wednesday. A decision on a No 1 target will then be made this weekend so negotiations can begin.

The FA are seeking a manager to not only push for World Cup qualification, but also lead the team to Gulf Cup success later this year – Mahdi Ali guided the UAE to glory in 2013 – and to a first Asian Cup title in 2019, when the UAE host the continent’s premier competition.

When asked on Tuesday about the search for a manager, Marwan bin Ghalita, the FA president, said: “All those issues are with the new technical committee. I hope that within days they will finalise the shortlist of new coaches.

“I would like to thank Mahdi for his effort with the team. They did a great job and he achieved a lot of things a lot of international coaches could not achieve with the UAE team. We keep fighting for the chance we have: three important games, nine points.”

Despite the short space of time between now and Thailand, the FA have placed emphasis on a coach with a vast experience of international football. It is understood they had considered managers with significant knowledge of UAE football, such as Al Ahli’s Cosmin Olaroiu and Ivan Jovanovic, formerly in charge of Al Nasr, but the search has now focused on coaches from South America and Europe with international pedigrees.

Italy’s Alberto Zaccheroni and Fabio Capello have been suggested, preliminarily at least, together with Argentines Alejandro Sabella and Edgardo Bauza. Louis van Gaal, the former Netherlands and Manchester United manager, and Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning manager and now at China’s Guangzhou Evergrande, have also been mentioned.

“The new coach will come with a challenge,” Bin Ghalita said. “He should be up to the challenge and get the best out of the players. We have the best players you can have in the UAE nowadays. Let us keep the hope that we prepare for those three games and for the Gulf Cup and the Asian Cup.

“I trust my technical committee. I’m sure they will put the profile that will meet their criteria. For sure, it will be a national team coach. For sure it will be a coach with achievements. For sure, it will be a coach who can get the best out of our players. But as I said, I trust them and let us hope for the best.

“They have a shortlist and they are reviewing all the CVs. So far they have four or five. It’s on them, they can add to the list based on their criteria. But we need to finish it soon.”

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