While Saudi Arabia’s coach Roberto Mancini, who is receiving the highest salary in Asia, is said to be close to being replaced due to poor performance, a number of familiar names have emerged as candidates for the successor.
Mancini lost 0-2 to Japan in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup held in October and drew 0-0 with Bahrain. With only five points in the four third qualifying round, there is a lot of public opinion about his replacement at a time when he is in third place in Group C.
There are reports that the Saudi Football Association is likely to replace Mancini ahead of the match against Australia in November.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian newspaper “Al-Masri Al-Yaum” released a list of replacements mentioned locally on the 17th (local time), saying that Italian coach Mancini did not have much time to spend in Saudi Arabia. It is not clear whether the list was written by the Saudi Football Association.
“Al-Masri Al-Yaum” mentioned that former South Korean national soccer team coach Jurgen Klinsmann is a candidate for Saudi Arabia’s next head coach. He introduced himself as “an expert in Asian soccer” and a former Korean coach. Klinsmann had defeated Saudi Arabia, led by Mancini, in the round of 16 at the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup after a penalty shootout. Mancini left without even seeing the kick of Saudi Arabia’s last kicker in the shootout.
Former French women’s national soccer team coach Herber Renard, who was one of the candidates to replace former coach Klinsmann, who was dismissed in February due to the Asian Cup slump and controversy over his attendance, also said he was a candidate. Coach Renard has a history of playing in the 2022 Qatar World Cup in charge of Saudi Arabia. 메이저사이트
In addition, “Al Masri Al Yaum” mentioned a number of unemployed coaches with high name values or experiences on the Asian stage, including former Alnasr coach Rudy Garcia, former Brazilian national team coach Chi Chi, former Egyptian national team coach Hui Vitoria, AS Roma coach Daniele de Rossi, former Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri, former Celta Vigo coach Rafael Benitez, former Al Hilal coach Leonardo Zardim, and former Flamengoo coach Jorge Sampao.
Hussein Amuta Al Jazeera, who successfully led the Jordanian national team, is also considered a strong candidate. Amuta beat South Korea in the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup semifinals to advance to the finals for the first time in Jordan’s history and become the runner-up. Last July, sheikh Mansour took the helm of Al Jazeera, an UAE club that is the owner of the team.