Paulo Bento (Portugal), former head coach of the national soccer team, has been appointed as the new head coach of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Now, I met Korea as an enemy on the Asian stage.
Bento’s agency, Pro-Eleven, announced on the 10th (Korea Standard Time) that “Bento has been appointed as the head coach of the UAE national team.” The photo released by the agency showed Bento taking a picture with officials from the UAE Football Association.
Bento’s appointment as head coach of the UAE national team was previously announced through Portugal’s Hecord and transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano. And he officially took the helm of the UAE national team through signing a contract. The contract period is known to be three years until 2026.
As Bento took the helm of the UAE, he will be reunited with South Korea, which he has accompanied for the past four years. Starting with the 2026 FIFA North-Central America World Cup qualifying round, which will begin in November, there are many stages for Asian teams to clash, including the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in January next year, which could lead to a showdown between South Korean football and the “Bento” UAE. He belonged to another group in the Asian Cup finals, where the draw ended, but there is a possibility of a clash in the tournament later. The memory of reaching the round of 16 at the World Cup may now be a weakness.
As Bento took the helm of the UAE, he will return to the field seven months after leaving South Korea in December last year. He left after leading South Korea to the round of 16 at the World Cup for the first time in 12 years and the second time in history. Since then, Bento has wanted to accompany South Korea for another four years, but has been interviewed by local media to the effect that there were differences in the contract period during negotiations with the Korea Football Association (KFA).
Bento, who took the helm of South 안전놀이터추천 Korea in 2018, planted the so-called “build-up soccer.” In the process of looking for a successor, it was evaluated that it presented an important direction for Korean football to the extent that “the succession of Bento’s soccer” was presented as an important condition. Throughout his tenure, he also received strong trust from the players. After the last game under Bento’s system, the players were in tears, and Bento also showed tears on the day he left the country after finishing his contract.
Since then, Bento has tried to return to the European stage. Rumors of his appointment to the Polish national soccer team were strongly raised in January, but it was eventually canceled. Since then, there has been a possibility of appointing the Ecuadorian national team and the Portuguese club team, but they have not been able to take the helm repeatedly. Bento, who had been unable to find a new team for more than half a year, eventually continued his career as a head coach on the Asian stage.
The UAE national team, where Bento will take the helm, is the eighth-largest team in Asia with 72nd place in the FIFA rankings. The 1990 Italian Games are the only ones to advance to the World Cup finals, but they will challenge to re-enter the finals through the North and Central America Games, which has expanded to 48 countries. In the Asian Cup, both 2015 and 2019 tournaments have recently advanced to the semifinals, showing strength.