Athletes said that the Football Association’s decision to dismiss the coach of the national team, Portuguese Paulo Pinto, was very late, after it caused a decline in the technical level of the white and lost his identity and strong personality, and failed to form a strong team, despite the great support he received by the Football Association by including a group of the best players in the ADNOC Professional League.
They told «Emirates Today»: “The Football Association has many options for contracting with a new coach who takes over the mission instead of the article, led by Sharjah coach, Roman Cosmin, despite his current association with a contract with Sharjah, as it is the most appropriate alternative, but it is not the only one.”
The Football Association had contracted from Pinto on the ninth of June 2023 with a three-year contract to succeed the former coach, Argentine Arabarina, but the team during his reign did not provide the required level and bid farewell to the 26th Gulf Championship from the first round, as it suffers in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, despite his late victory and breath, the day before yesterday, over the North Korean team 2-1.
They added: “The Football Association’s decision to dismiss the Portuguese coach came due to the decline in the team’s results, especially in the recent period after he lost in these qualifiers three games and won four and one match, out of eight games, so the Football Association has to choose the most appropriate alternative for the next stage, preferably coach from within the country, or he has great knowledge of the Emirati ball.”
They stressed that «the team level is not convincing despite the victory over North Korea, and the third place with 13 points, and its chance to directly qualify for the World Cup became difficult, as he needs to win the last two rounds against Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to raise his score to 19 points, and waiting for luck to serve Uzbekistan against Qatar.
During the Bento era, 26 games, including 21, played 10 games, tied in five, lost six, while he played five friendly matches, won three and drew in one, and lost in the same.
Late step
“The dismissal of Pinto was late, but in the end it happened,” said sports commentator and technical analyst Ali Hamid, adding: “The decision to dismiss was caused by the team’s results, as it was hope that the team would beat Iran and North Korea, at a time when its ranks strengthened strongly after a group of players joined a high level.” “I was calling from an early age to dismiss Pinto because he had nothing to provide to the national team, and the team’s opportunity became difficult to win the second qualification card for the World Cup, after Iran had booked the first card,” Ali Hamid added. He concluded: “I think we are closer to the annex, although the competition in it will be as if it were the Arab Cup, because most of the competing teams will be Arab.”
Notes on Pinto’s performance
For his part, the sports administrator and technical analyst Ahmed Khalifa Hammad stressed that “the team during the era of Pinto was not as required, although he obtained a lot of opportunities, but it could be the matter due to his options and his adherence to his artistic opinions, although it was not correct, such as excluding players as stars such as Ali Mabkhout, Ali Saleh and others, along with the lists of players and the way of playing, and the lack of stability of the formation, and not to deal with the matches, despite the fact that the Football Association has provided him The requirements. ”
He added: “The worst point in the team was in the absence of homogeneity in most matches, due to the lack of stability of the formation, the ongoing changes in the players, as well as the change in the positions of the players themselves, and although the technical options were many in front of the coach, but he did not use them correctly.”
Hammad added: “The national team has received great support from the sports street in important times in its career, but there were a lot of observations on the artwork, the way of performance and the short gatherings, because some players do not play in the Emirati league like McKinsey Hunt, but every time he finds new names with him.”
Hammad continued: «As for the alternative coach, the team needs a competent coach, and he may be a coach working in the Emirati league, but the club’s training is different from the team, because the work with the team needs a certain mentality and experience, and Cosmin may be the most coach who has been working in the Emirati league, but the option cannot be limited to Cosmin only.”
In the right direction
In turn, the journalist and sports analyst Adel Al -Hammadi said that the dismissal of Pinto is a step in the right direction, as the national team is in his reign without a personality or identity in front of teams that are the weakest such as North Korea and Kyrgyzstan, and it is assumed that the team is easily overlooked, as he put it.
He added, “The last period witnessed a confusion in the national team, and the coach bears part of this confusion, as well as the Football Association bears part of this failure, as we see in every new quadrilateral match in the defense of the team that plays for the first time with each other, not to mention the other positions, what the team lost its identity.”
He continued, “For the alternative coach, the time does not allow the use of a coach from outside the country, so it is better to choose a coach who knows the Emirati league, or the choice of a citizen coach or coach from abroad, but he has previously worked in the Emirates and continues our role, and Cosmin is currently the first candidate because he is characterized by a strong personality and knows the Emirati league well, but he did not train teams, so the matter must be studied well by the technical committee in the Football Association before making any decision.”
Pinto numbers with white:
• He played 21 official matches.
• Win in 10 games.
• Tie in five games.
• Loss of six games.
• Pinto failed to make a strong team, despite having all the tools.
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