The UAE Football Association say they have entered the final stage of negotiations for the vacant national team job and are hoping an announcement as to Mahdi Ali’s successor can be made in the coming days.
On Wednesday, speculation mounted that Argentine Edgardo Bauza had agreed to terms to fill the void left by Mahdi Ali’s resignation last month, with reports claiming he was set to travel to the Emirates at the beginning of next week to finalise the deal. However, the UAEFA rejected those as nothing more than rumour. The governing body had chosen two potential candidates for the role, who were understood to be Bauza and Colombian Reinaldo Rueda.
A move for Rueda, 60, was complicated by the fact the FA were not dealing directly with the right representative of the former Colombia, Honduras and Ecuador national team manager. Yet they have since done so, with Rueda now favourite to land the job.
Rueda is currently in charge of Atletico Nacional in his homeland, the club he guided to last year’s Copa Libertadores crown.
Bauza, meanwhile, was dismissed earlier this month as Argentina manager with the South American heavyweights fifth in qualification for next year’s World Cup – one place outside the automatic qualification berths. Bauza lasted only eight months in the role.
The UAE are attempting to make Russia, too, and therefore the FA understand the need to quickly install a new man at the helm. The national team resume their bid in little more than seven weeks to make what would be only a second global finals, when they face Thailand in Bangkok on June 13.
At present, the UAE sit fourth in Group B in the final stage of qualification, seven points off the automatic qualification spots. With three matches remaining, they lie four points back from Australia in third, the position that guarantees entry into a series of play-offs to reach the World Cup.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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