Sport | Football

UAE football coach Metsu resigns

UAE national team coach Bruno Mestu has resigned from his post. Metsu met UAE Football Association President Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaiti on Sunday afternoon and handed in his papers.

  • By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
  • Published: 22:33 September 21, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • UAE national team coach Bruno Mestu resigned from his post on Sunday
  • Image Credit: Gulf News Archive

Dubai: In a shocking development UAE national team coach Bruno Mestu resigned from his post on Sunday. Metsu met UAE Football Association President Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaiti on Sunday afternoon and handed in his papers.

It is believed that the Frenchman lost the confidence of his players when he slammed their performance following the UAE's recent defeat to Saudi Arabia in the Asian qualifiers for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Metsu, 54, held a contract with the national football team till 2010. Last January he made history by leading the UAE to win the Gulf Cup for the first time. In 2003 he helped pioneer Al Ain football club to victory in the Asian Champions League.
Metsu first came into the spotlight in 2002 when he took the Senegal national football team to the World Cup in Korea and Japan where they surprised the world by beating France 1-0 in the tournament's opening game.

The UAE are scheduled to play their next match in the Asian World Cup qualifiers on October 15 when they travel to South Korea. No replacement coach has been named as yet.

Do you think Metsu was the right person for the job? Would you want a foreign coach for the UAE team? Or will an Emirati coach prove to be more successful?

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