Sports Reporter/Doha
Qatar have dismissed reports that they were looking to hire a new coach to replace Bruno Metsu.
A section of the British press reported that Manchester United first-team coach Rene Meulensteen was being considered as a possible successor to the Frenchman.
According to the Daily Mirror, Meulensteen has been identified as the man Qatar Football Association wants to run their national side as they look to qualify for the World Cup in 2014.
But the QFA yesterday denied the claims, saying they were wide of the mark.
“We have a contract with Metsu that runs until 2014,” QFA general-secretary Saud al-Mohannadi told the Gulf Times.
“We have seen several names in the papers, but Bruno has full support from the players and the association,” he added. “They (the media) are entitled to say whatever they please, but it is the QFA who decide.”
The highly-rated Dutchman is one of Ferguson’s top aides. Many think he is the ‘brains’ behind the Old Trafford set-up.
Meulensteen had also spent time in Qatar, both as a manager of club sides and the national youth team, before heading to Old Trafford.
Metsu was appointed in September 2008 to replace Uruguayan Jorge Fossati, who stepped down on health grounds at the middle of Qatar’s qualifying campaign for the World Cup 2010. Qatar finished fourth in Group 1, with one win and three draws from eight games in round 4.
Despite Qatar’s failure to qualify for next year’s World Cup in South Africa, Metsu – Qatar’s 12th coach in as many years – was offered a new five-year deal with national team last June.
Speaking at the time, QFA president Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani, had said: “We want to give confidence to the national coach and to communicate a message of stability for players so that we can fulfill our dream of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.”
After famously steering Senegal to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2002, the globe-trotting Metsu took control of UAE’s Al Ain.
His first coaching job in Qatar was at Al Gharrafa whom he guided to a domestic double in 2004. A short stint with Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad in 2006 was followed by his appointment as the coach of the UAE national team who won their first-ever Gulf Cup in January 2007.
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