Edgardo Bauza with Ibrahim Hassan Al Nemer, the UAE FA Secretary General, on Thursday.
Dubai - The UAE will eye crucial third spot in Group A under Bauza's watchful eyes
Published: Thu 11 May 2017, 3:59 PM
Last updated: Sat 13 May 2017, 5:41 PM
Former Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza has taken over as the new UAE national team coach after he formally signed an agreement with Ibrahim Hassan Al Nemer, the UAE FA Secretary General, according to the official website of the association on Thursday.
The newly appointed coach was scheduled to address media at 7.30pm at the UAE Fa headquarters in Dubai.
Bauza arrived in Dubai earlier this week and has reportedly signed a two-year agreement to coach the national football team. He will take charge of the team for the remaining matches in the World Cup qualifying Tournament.
The UAE are currently occupying the fourth place in Group A of the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers. The top two teams in the group will book direct tickets to the 2018 World Cup. And the third-placed team will take on the third-placed team from Group B in a two-legged playoff in the fourth round to decide who goes into the inter-confederation play-off from Asia.
With nine points from seven games (Japan 16 points, Saudi Arabia 16 points and Australia 13 points), the fourth-placed UAE must win their remaining three matches to have a realistic chance of finishing third and go into fourth round playoff.
Now the UAE will eye that crucial third spot in the group under Bauza's watchful eyes. The Argentinian manager will have the easiest of starts as the UAE's next match is against the already eliminated Thailand.
The away match on June 13 will enable Bauza to gauge his team before the stern test at home against Saudi Arabia on August 31. If they win those two matches, then their final group game against Iraq on September 5 could the decider.
Bauza, despite his failure with the star-studded Argentina national team, has a pretty impressive coaching CV having tasted success twice in Copa Libertadores - South America's answer to Europe's Champions League.
A powerful defender in his playing days, Bauza played more than 300 matches for Argentinian club Rosario Central. He also played for Independiente in Argentina, Atletico Junior in Colombia and Veracruz in Mexico.
Also, he briefly managed Brazil's Sao Paulo and Saudi side Al Nassr FC.
Bauza was also instrumental in bringing Lionel Messi out of international retirement after the Barcelona star shocked world by quitting the national team following the 2016 Copa America heartbreak.
Bauza will now look to bring all his experience to the field and earn the goodwill of the players - something Mahdi Ali did remarkably well.
But after having faced sustained pressure to deliver the World Cup dream, Ali faced an acid Test against a formidable Australian team in March. A 2-0 defeat in that qualifier in Sydney was enough to end what was a highly successful UAE stint for Ali - the man under who the UAE reached the Asian Cup semifinals in 2015.
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