Portugal’s Paulo Bento will coach the United Arab Emirates national team, signing a three-year contract until 2026 after leaving South Korea last December, the UAE Football Association announced this Sunday.
“The United Arab Emirates Football Association has hired Portuguese coach Paulo Bento to take over the responsibilities of our first national team for the next three years,” the organization said on its website.
The 54-year-old Portuguese coach, who has been coaching South Korea for more than five years, a position he took up in August 2018 after winning the 2019 East Asian Cup trophy, stressed that he is looking for victory without looking back.
“Winning is a way to make Emirates fans happy by focusing on the present, looking to the future, but not looking back,” Paulo Bento said during a press conference held at the organization’s headquarters in Dubai. .
The former Portugal coach between 2010 and 2014 stated that he “will look to study the players more closely”, stressing that he needs “an ambitious team to achieve his goals”.
“We will try to get to know the players more closely in the next period by visiting their fields abroad to prepare for the new season. The selection criteria at this stage are based on elements of performance and behavior, regardless of age,” he concluded. .
Paulo Bento has been out of the spotlight since South Korea’s World Cup round of 16 elimination in Qatar against Brazil 4-1 and is now preparing to lead the third team of his career.
The former Portuguese international player began his coaching career at the highest level at Sporting CP, moving from juniors, later taking charge of the Portuguese national team, Brazil’s Cruzeiro, Greece’s Olympiacos and the Chinese team Chongqing Dandai.