Serbian Ivan Jovanovic has been named as coach for the UAE national football team, replacing Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk, the UAE Football Association, UAE FA, announced today.
Jovanovic will take charge as the UAE is preparing for the ongoing Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023. The UAE will take on Malaysia at home on 26th March before playing Indonesia away five days later. They will conclude their campaign against Thailand and Vietnam on 4th and 9th June respectively.
Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Transitional Committee of the UAE FA, said that The national team is among the first priorities of the committee, because the goal is to compete and qualify for the decisive stage of the qualifiers and reach the World Cup 2022, stressing his confidence in the ability of the players to rise again and return to the victories.
Sheikh Rashid assured that the selection of the coach came after a series of continuous meetings of the national teams’ and Technical Affairs Committee that revised a number of coach profiles to train the National Team.
Coming to the final decision of choosing Ivan Jovanovic due to the distinctive characteristics of his resume that fit the criteria set by The National Teams' Committee including the most important of which is his ambition for achievements and his full knowledge of the Emirati football.
Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi added that the current stage requires unified efforts of all sporting bodies, institutions, clubs, media and audiences in order to provide an appropriate environment for the national team to perform in the best way. This stage requires a "one team" spirit in order to achieve positive results in regional and international competitions.
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