DUBAI // Edgardo Bauza says he is eager to get to work as UAE national team manager as he flew to the Emirates to finalise a deal to replace Mahdi Ali.
The Argentine, who was dismissed as Argentina manager last month after only eight months in charge, is poised to accept a contract with the UAE and will succeed Mahdi Ali, who resigned on March 28 following almost five years in the post.
Bauza, 59, left for Dubai late on Monday and is expected to complete a deal that runs until the conclusion of the 2019 Asian Cup, which takes place in the Emirates from January 5 to February 1. His first task, though, will be getting the UAE’s flagging 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign back on track. They resume their quest to reach Russia with the must-win qualifier against Thailand in Bangkok on June 13.
__________________________________
Read more
■ UAE: FA deny Edgardo Bauza's arrival but expect to name new manager this week
■ Edgardo Bauza: Argentine emerges as lead candidate to replace Mahdi Ali as UAE manager
■ Reinaldo Rueda: FA carries on hunt for new manager after talks with Colombian break down
__________________________________
Speaking to reporters at Buenos Aires’ Ministro Pistarini International Airport, Bauza said his previous experience in the region – albeit brief – with Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr in 2009 gave him some insight into what lies ahead.
“I know football in that area because I worked for four months in [Saudi] Arabia,” Bauza told ESPN Argentina. “It’s not the UAE, but I know the mentality of the players from there.
“I’m travelling to close on details of the contract and to see the work environment. There is a game in 25 days. We have to know the team and get it ready. I saw some videos, but I need to know it more.
“The goal is to be close to Japan and Australia, the two big teams in that area.”
The UAE sit fourth in Group B in the final stage of qualification, seven points off the automatic qualification spots with three matches remaining. They are four points back from Australia in third, the position that guarantees entry into a series of play-offs to make the World Cup.
Bauza will seek to rebound from a chastening eight months with Argentina from August last year. During that time, he guided the 2014 World Cup finalists to only three victories in eight matches, a run that pushed the side to fifth in the Conmebol section for Russia 2018, one spot outside automatic qualification.
Bauza has experienced significant success at club level, though, having led Ecuador’s LDU Quito and Argentina’s San Lorenzo to win the Copa Libertadores, the highest club prize in South American football, in 2008 and 2014, respectively.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport