Abu Dhabi: Croatian Krunoslav Jurcic will be the new coach of Bani Yas, First Division league champions, for their campaign in the 2018-19 season. Jurcic has signed a one-year contract with the club and was unveiled in front of the media on Monday.
Bani Yas had made an automatic promotion back to the Arabian Gulf League with a game to spare but their Serbian coach Goran Tufegdzic was given the boot less than a week after their successful campaign.
“Extremely happy to be here with Bani Yas. I’m very well aware of the challenges here in the UAE. I’m confident of the team putting up a good show this season,” said Jurcic, adding that he will be playing a key role in selecting the perfect blend of foreign and local players for the team.
“Yes, the foreign players will be the key and we will be zeroing on a few soon. It is important to have the best combination if we are looking to compete with the best,” added Jurcic, who will be going back to his country tomorrow and return on July 5.
“The training will start in July here first and then we will be heading for the camp in Holland before the season gets under way,” said Juric, who last year in a surprising move was chosen as the man to take the largely inexperienced Saudi Arabia squad to Kuwait for the Gulf Cup, instead of their newly appointed national team coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, after their main team had qualified for the World Cup in Russia.
However, the team didn’t progress into the semi-finals after finishing third in the Group behind Oman and UAE.
