3 new coaches in front of a difficult test in the Asian World Cup qualifiers
Kuala Lumpur on June 3/ WAM/ The AFC has shed light on three new coaches for the national teams of the UAE, Qatar, and Iraq, who are awaiting important matches in the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, with two decisive rounds “ninth and ten” in the journey of direct qualification.
The AFC said, in a report before the start of the ninth round next Thursday, that the UAE team seeking to qualify for the finals for the second time in its history, ended its contract with the Portuguese coach Paulo Pinto a few days after the eighth round, and the appointment of Cosmin Olario was completed as a substitute for him, after the Romanian coach concluded his successful career in the UAE clubs by winning the AFC Champions League 2 with 2 Sharjah Club, which is the sixteenth title for it during its training period with three clubs in the Emirates.
“I have a very difficult task,” said coach Cosmin Cosmen.
Likewise, the Qatari team was the second team in the first group, which witnessed a change at the level of technical leadership, as the Spaniard Julien Lopetegui took over the task to succeed his citizen Luis Garcia.
The first challenge of the former coach of the Spain national team and Real Madrid club is to ensure the qualification of Qatar – the Asian Cup champion in the last two copies – to the continental supplement, after it lost the opportunity to qualify directly.
As for the new third coach, who seeks to lead his team towards qualifying, he is Graham Arnold, who takes over the task of training the Iraqi team, and is only one point away from the second -place holder in the second group.
The Iraqi team suffered a 1-2 loss against Palestine in the eighth round, which reduced its chances of directly qualifying for the World Cup for the second time in its history, but it still has good chances, especially as it will face the second place Jordan in the last round.
Before that, Iraq must achieve a positive result against the Republic of Korea next Thursday.
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