A desperate situation calls for desperate measures, and so it is understandable that Jorge Fossati has been handed the reins of the Qatar football team. The 63-year-old Uruguayan will now attempt to resurrect the team’s fortunes after they suffered back-to-back defeats in the final qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Thanks to his exemplary success in Qatar – he guided Al Sadd’s stunning run to the AFC Champions League title in 2011 and helped Al Rayyan win the Qatar Stars League title after a gap of almost two decades last year – Fossati has emerged the go-to man in any crisis. And crisis is the word that best describes the Qatar team’s situation in the qualifiers, languishing as they are at the bottom of Group A with no points after embarrassing losses to Iran and Uzbekistan.
Football management in the Gulf is a thankless job, with the proverbial axe dangling over coaches from the very moment they take up a new assignment. Coaches have been fired unceremoniously in the past, with quite a few receiving their marching orders on the ground itself, just moments after they have lost an important match.
Nowadays, though, lucrative termination clauses in contracts ensure coaches are compensated heavily in case they lose their jobs before time. Jose Daniel Carreno, the man who presided over Qatar’s defeat against Iran and Uzbekistan, too, must have taken home a hefty sum and probably even had another job lined up before his exit was announced!
Fossati’s appointment also has a lot to do with the way he goes about his business. He is rarely fazed by pressure, and is not given to throwing his weight around. The respect that he commands is natural and automatic, not manufactured.
“It’s a big honour and big responsibility. I have taken this responsibility because I believe in the quality of the players. Despite the two bad results so far, I believe that qualification is still possible. It will be very, very difficult but I’m optimistic about our chances,” Fossati said at his first press conference after being installed in the hot seat.
“It feels a bit strange replacing my compatriot (Carreno) and it’s not something that I wish for but this is the nature of football and especially that of our profession. They have done a good job so far and I have to continue the good work,” he added.
Qatar will play next against South Korea on October 6 in an away match and then take on Syria on October 11. With two crucial matches, within such a short interval, Fossati knows that Qatar have to make a quick turnaround.
Qatar is expecting Fossati to deliver somewhat of a miracle by rallying the team from the precarious position it finds itself in. The task is by no means impossible, and if Qatar indeed go on to book their tickets to Russia 2018, Fossati will have earned himself the right to be called a miracle worker.