Dubai: Al Nasr won’t need much more than hard work to end a three-decade wait for league honours, according to their new coach Cesare Prandelli, who was unveiled to media on Monday.
The 59-year-old Italian, who led Italy to the final of Euro 2012 before a 4-0 defeat to Spain, replaces Dan Petrescu as coach of the Blue Wave on a two-year deal.
“Yesterday [Sunday] I visited the stadium and before I even put my request in for facilities I found everything is already there,” he said. “Therefore this club is at a high level and has a mission to achieve a lot in the future.
“Before signing the contract, I also studied the capacity of the staff and players who are already available at the club and from that moment on I realised they wouldn’t need much.”
Al Nasr finished sixth in the Arabian Gulf League last season and lost the President’s Cup final 3-0 to Al Wahda.
Now Prandelli will be tasked with getting the club back into contention for the league title, an honour they haven’t won in 31 years. “That’s the main objective,” said Al Nasr vice-chairman Ahmad Khoury. “We haven’t won the league in over 30 years. It’s a long time, but now there’s no other way out, we want to make His Highness happy,” he added in reference to Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and the Minister of Finance, who is also president of Al Nasr Club.
“All my technical staff are now ready to work at a high level with Al Nasr to ensure we end the year with a trophy,” added Prandelli. “But we will need everyone to work together to reach the title.
“I need to work very hard to see how I can make this season very special. What I can promise is serious work and focus to develop the players to get them playing better game-by-game.
“One of the reasons I came to Al Nasr is for a new experience and to work with a chairman like Humaid Al Tayer, because he’s looking out for everything at the club. I was happy because he has been following my history and knows everything about my career and experience, therefore from day one I already feel at home.
“He has requested me to pass on all my experience to the players and that’s what I promise to deliver.”
Prandelli made his name with Fiorentina whom he guided from relegation fodder to Uefa Champions League qualification between 2005 and 2010, winning Serie A Coach of the Year in 2007/08.
The former Juventus midfielder, who won the European Cup as a player with the Old Lady in 1985, went on to manage Italy guiding them to the final of Euro 2012 before crashing out of the group stages of the 2014 World Cup.
Since then, he has had just two short stints with Galatasaray and Valencia, resigning after just 10 games with the Spaniards in December.
Prandelli is not the first Italian connection at Al Nasr. Former Italy and Inter Milan keeper Walter Zenga managed the club from 2011 to 2013.
Zenga also brought Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning striker Luca Toni in from Juventus for a short spell in 2012, before he returned to Fiorentina after just eight games.
During Zenga’s reign, Swedish former England and Lazio boss Sven-Goran Eriksson also briefly came in as director of football in 2013.
