Saudi Arabia’s coach Roberto Mancini (Italy) has set winning the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup as his first goal.
Coach Mancini arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the 29th (Korean time) and signed a contract with the Saudi Arabian Football Association.바카라
Mancini, who recently laid down the helm of the Italian national team, signed a four-year contract with Saudi Arabia until 2027. The Saudi Arabia Football Association did not disclose the terms of Mancini’s contract, but local media estimate that he signed an astronomical contract worth 30 million euros (approximately 43 billion won) per year.
Mancini, who appeared in Saudi Arabia, promised to win the Asian Cup, which will be held in January next year, as his first goal.
“Saudi Arabia’s goal is to reach the top of the Asian Cup for the first time in 27 years,” Mancini said.
Saudi Arabia has won the Asian Cup three times, but has not reached the top since the 1996 UAE competition. They reached the finals in Lebanon in 2000 and four Southeast Asian countries in 2007, but lost both and finished runner-up.
Coach Mancini said, “I know that there are strong teams in Asia, such as Korea, Japan and Australia. But I will try to win the Asian Cup.”
He continued, “There are four months until the Asian Cup, and during that time, four warm-up matches and Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America will be held,” he said, adding that he would put effort into reorganizing the team for a short period of time.
Mancini’s Saudi Arabia debut against Costa Rica on September 9th. Then, on September 13, at St James’ Park in Newcastle, England, the second match against Korea will be held.
Meanwhile, coach Mancini is a competent leader whose career has been recognized in Europe. After retiring from active duty in 2001, he went through Fiorentina and Lazio (above Italy), and from 2004 he took the helm of Italy’s prestigious Serie A Inter Milan. At Inter Milan, coach Mancini won three consecutive Serie A titles, and also won the Coppa Italia twice.
In 2009, he joined Manchester City of the English Premier League (EPL) and won the 2011-12 season. Starting with the championship in the 2011-12 season, Mancini established itself as a strong player in the EPL with manager Mancini.
He also led his home country Italy to victory at Euro 2020, giving Italy their second trophy since the 1968 tournament.