Dubai: Former Inter Milan and Valencia boss Hector Cuper was confirmed as the new Al Wasl manager on Thursday.
He takes over from Frenchman Laurent Banide, who was sacked last month.
The 57-year-old Argentine, who also previously coached Mallorca in Spain, was most recently was at the Turkish club Orduspor.
He led Valencia to two Uefa Champions League runners-up spots in 2000 and 2001.
Valencia were twice Uefa Champions League runners-up on Cuper’s watch, in 2000 and 2001.
Cuper was in the stands to watch his new club Al Wasl ease past holders Ajman 3-0 in the UAE Pro-League on Wednesday.
Al Shabab and Bani Yas also recorded easy wins in the fifth round of the competition.
Al Shabab, inspired by a brace from Edgar Bruno, overcame Emirates Club 3-1, while Bani Yas stunned Al Jazira 3-1.
Languishing at the bottom of Group B and with nothing to lose, Al Shabab recovered from an early goal to snatch the three points and dash Emirates Club’s hopes of qualifying to the knock-out stages.
German Herrera put Emirates Club into the lead after just 15 minutes, only to see Brazilian Edgar Bruno get his name on the scoreboard twice.
Nasser Masood added a third for the home team to take their tally to four points, although they remain at the bottom of the seven-team group.
Ajman’s chances of retaining the League Cup were dashed after they lost their final group match 3-0 to Al Wasl. After Wednesday’s match, Ajman have just eight points from their six matches, while Al Ahli and Al Nasr are behind with seven and six respectively but with two more matches yet to play in Group B.
Khalifa Abdullah and Mohammad Nasser were on target in the first half to help Al Wasl secure the emphatic victory. The Cheetahs held off the Ajman strikers in the second half and substitute Abdullah Wahdani added a third goal in the 85th minute for a comfortable win.
Meanwhile, Bani Yas took a step closer to progression with a hard-earned 3-1 win over a ten-man Al Jazira.
Playing on home turf, Mohammad Jaber and Luis Farina gave Bani Yas the lead, only to see Al Jazira stage a second-half comeback with a goal from Ahmad Al Ghilani and a penalty missed by Sultan Barghash. With more than 30 minutes remaining, Al Jazira lost skipper Ricardo Oliveira to a second yellow card and Farina added a third goal during injury time to help Bani Yas to ten points from five matches, while Al Jazira remain on nine points.
