Sport | Football
Metsu will not be fired for defeats, say FA
Bruno Metsu, the UAE's head coach, does not have to worry about his future despite losing the opening two games of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, said a top UAE Football Association official.
- By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:30 September 12, 2008
Abu Dhabi: Bruno Metsu, the UAE's head coach, does not have to worry about his future despite losing the opening two games of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, said a top UAE Football Association official.
North Korea and Saudi Arabia have both won in Abu Dhabi leaving the UAE with little chance of making SOuth Africa in 2010.
Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaithi, UAE FA Chairman, said: "It was sad to lose against the Saudis because we played a good match and were leading most of the time.
"We played a better match than the first one against the Koreans but this is football. You win some and lose some."
The chairman insisted Metsu should not be blamed for Wednesday's defeat.
He said: "We did not lose the match because of technical mistakes.
"We lost because we squandered many scoring chances.
"I, nor any other person, can not blame Metsu for squandering chances.
"We have a long term contract with Metsu which we would like to honour and we have very good working relations with the coach.
"Metsu has achieved many victories for our team and we can not take sentimental decisions regarding his future with the team.
"We are determined to give him time to work with the team till the end of his contract."
Time to improve
Al Rumaithi added the team had 45 days to work on their mistakes before facing South Korea and he said the side had a chance of taking three points in Seoul.
The chairman said: "We can beat both North Korea and Saudi Arabia away. Why not we have defeated both teams in the past."
Metsu blamed the players for the defeat, saying they lacked fighting spirit.
He said: "In matches with opponents such as Saudi Arabia, it is the fighting spirits and determination that lead to victory. We lacked this spirit in our match. It was not only one or two of the players. All of them lacked fighting spirits.
"We played a good match and were the better team. Then the Saudis scored the equaliser which made the players panic and commit defensive mistakes which led, like in the first match, to our loss in a matter of a few minutes. Our players broke under the psychological pressures of the Saudis equaliser.
"I believe it was the defeat against North Korea in the first match that they remembered when the Saudis equalised and that led to conceding the second Saudi goal.
"But we played up to our capabilities and we were unfortunate not to defend our lead."
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