Aad de Mos pleased to coach UAE team

The UAE Football Association has signed a one- year contract with Dutch coach Aad de Mos to train the senior national football team for the Asian Cup finals in China from July 17 to August 7.

Aad de Mos will also lead the UAE in the 17th Gulf Cup in Qatar in December and the World Cup qualifiers against Thailand, North Korea and Yemen.

The Dutch coach signed the contract at a press conference held yesterday at the FA premises in Dubai in the presence of Mohammed bin Dokhan, the FA general secretary, and Khalid bin Faris, the technical committee chairman.

The Dutch coach will succeed Frenchman Jean Francois Jodar who led the team over the last three months.

Bin Dokhan and Aad de Mos declined to reveal the terms of the contract, claiming that the coach's salary was only for the FA and the individual himself.

Aad de Mos said that he is pleased to work with the UAE national team in the coming period,.
"I know about UAE football. I watched them in the last Gulf Cup in Kuwait and also the youth team in the World Cup finals last year," he said.

The new UAE coach said the team will assemble on June 19 to leave for a two week training camp in Austria where they will play four warm-up matches.

He also stressed that he had sufficient time to prepare the team for the Asian finals in China.

"There is plenty of time to prepare the team and the selection will include most, if not all, the players who played in the World Cup qualifiers."

Aad de Mos said he will select 28 to 30 players for the training camp in Austria and he will deliver his list for the FA next week.

Mohammed bin Dokhan welcomed the new coach and wished him good luck.

"We have to give the coach time and co-operate with him to achieve success for UAE football," he said.

Aad de Mos said he needed time to form a strong team for UAE: "I hope to have a good chance and sufficient time to build a strong team which can achieve great results for UAE football."

Aad de Mos' last mission was with Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, who he trained for the last two years. Before that he trained Ajax, PSV Eindhoven clubs of Holland, Werder Bremen Germany, Standard de Liege, Mechelen, Anderlecht of Belgium, Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan.