|
Yomiuri - Former China managers Bobby
Houghton and Bora Milutinovic and ex-Senegal coach Bruno Metsu are among the
candidates to take over at the helm of Bahrain after the surprise
resignation of Srecko Juricic.
Japan will face Bahrain in a World Cup qualifier at Saitama Stadium on March
30, five days after playing Iran in Tehran, and the resignation of the
Croatian coach has left the Gulf nation's preparations in tatters.
The Bahrain Football Association is expected to name a replacement for
Juricic by the end of the week, and it has emerged that Milutinovic,
Houghton, Metsu and former Bahrain coach Wolfgang Sidka are among those
being considered for the post.
Milutinovic is currently working in neighboring Qatar with the Al Sadd club
and will lead the team into this year's Asian Champions League this evening
when it faces Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates in Doha.
The wily Serb qualified China for the World Cup finals in 2002 to take to
five the number of countries he has coached at the game's biggest spectacle.
He also helmed Mexico, the United States, Costa Rica and Nigeria at the
finals.
Englishman Houghton, whom Milutinovic replaced as China coach in early 2000,
led Swedish club Malmo to the final of the European Cup in 1979, where his
side lost to Nottingham Forest. Since then he has garnered a wealth of
experience working in Asia, coaching extensively in China and the Middle
East.
Sidka, meanwhile, worked with the Bahrainis in 2000 and 2001, taking the
nation to the final phase of qualifying for Korea-Japan 2002 and is also
currently in Qatar, with Al Arabi.
However, the early favorite for the position appears to be Metsu, with the
Bahrainis considering taking the manager on loan from Qatari club side Al
Ghafarah.
Metsu has been linked with numerous top jobs in Asia since leading Senegal
to the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2002.
A wrangle over cash ended his chances of becoming South Korea manager at the
end of Humberto Coehlo's reign last year, while he took Al Ain of the United
Arab Emirates to the inaugural Asian Champions League title in 2003. |
