Former South Korea national soccer team coach Paulo Bento got off to a winning start in his debut in charge of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) national soccer team.
The UAE (72nd in the FIFA rankings) defeated Costa Rica (46th in the FIFA rankings) 4-1 in a friendly at the Stadion Maximir in Zagreb, Croatia on Wednesday (Aug. 13).
After scoring three goals in the first half, the UAE scored its fourth goal eight minutes into the second half to book the win. They pulled one back in the 19th minute of the second half, but it didn’t affect the outcome.
The three-goal victory over Costa Rica was more of an upset. Costa Rica is coming off a 3-1 win over Saudi Arabia on Sept. 9.
Bento, who did not renew his contract with the Korean Football Association, was appointed UAE coach in July.
Before the game, Bento received support from Korean soccer fans. Ventura received rapturous applause after leading the South Korean national soccer team to the round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This is quite different from the public opinion surrounding the current coach, Jürgen Klinsmann.
While Bento’s tenure as the longest-serving coach of the national team (four years and four months) was not without controversy, he did not face the same controversy as Klinsmann, such as ‘working from home’. He is remembered as a coach who stayed at home, watched the K League, discovered new players, and brought them up to the national team.바카라사이트
Unlike Bento, who won his first game, Klinsmann took six games to get his first win.
Klinsmann’s South Korea national team (ranked 28th in FIFA) defeated Saudi Arabia (ranked 54th in FIFA) 1-0 in an A-match trial that kicked off the same day at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, England, thanks to a 32nd-minute header from Cho Kyu-sung.
It was the first win in six matches for Klinsmann, who had failed to win a single game in five A matches since his debut in March. It is the latest first win for any Korean national team coach in history.