By Choi Song-ah Reporter = Paulo Bento (54-Portugal), who coached the South Korean national football team to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, has taken charge of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) national team.
The UAE Football Association announced the appointment of Vento as the new national team coach on Tuesday (10 June). The contract is for a period of three years.
It is the first time in seven months that Bento has been back in charge of the South Korean national team, having left the job after failing to agree a new contract with the Korea Football Association after coaching them to the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar last December.
A Portugal international midfielder as a player, Bento won 35 caps for his country between 1992 and 2002, including the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, before embarking on a coaching career that began with the Portuguese Sporting youth team in 2004.
He managed the Sporting professional team from 2005 to 2009 and the Portugal national team from 2010 to 2014, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2012 European Football Championship (Euro 2012).
He went on to manage clubs such as Cruzeiro (Brazil), Olympiakos (Greece) and Chongqing (China) before being appointed to the South Korean national team in August 2018.
He led the team for almost four years and four months until the World Cup in Qatar, making him the longest-serving South Korean coach in a single term.바카라사이트
Under Bento, South Korea qualified for their 10th consecutive World Cup and reached the round of 16 in Qatar, their first away World Cup in 12 years since South Africa 2010.
Following his departure from South Korea after the World Cup in Qatar, there were local media reports that Bento would take charge of the Polish national team, but this did not materialise and he continued his coaching career in the UAE, an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member state like South Korea.
With Bento in charge of the UAE, it is possible that he will be facing South Korean players in the near future. The second round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 North American World Cup will take place in November this year, followed by the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar next January.
Bento will begin his work in charge of the UAE later this month with a 10-day training camp in Europe.
“The UAE national team has some important competitions coming up, including World Cup qualifiers and the Asian Cup,” he said. “I have a lot of information about the UAE national team, as well as plans for the future,” he said.
“I will try to get to know the players in more detail. “We will try to get to know them better, regardless of their age,” he added, “and we will try to please the UAE fans with a win.