The national team coach, Colombian Jorge Luis Pinto, confirmed that he is eager to start his mission with «White», pointing out that he is ready to travel to the UAE next Sunday, indicating that the initial list he chose in consultation with the Football Association, which included 36 players will be reduced to 24 Or 25 players in the preparatory camp scheduled to be held in Austria next August.
Pinto told the Colombian newspaper, "El Tembibo", that he will take a new challenge by accepting the task of training the Emirates team, stressing that he hopes to lead the team to the World Cup, and to repeat what he did with the Costa Rican team in the 2014 Brazil edition, as he is scheduled to travel in a dedicated plane from The Colombian Ministry of Sports includes 200 Colombian athletes next Sunday to Madrid before heading to Dubai.
He explained: "I love the challenge and I hope to do a great job with the Emirates team, especially since he did not qualify for the World Cup for a long time, and we hope that the team will return to the forefront at the international level again."
He added: “We will work to build a good team, and what helps me in that is that the Football Association has great ambitions and passion to achieve the achievement of the Emirati football, and I see that there will be no difficulties for me regarding a new experience outside Latin America, as football itself is everywhere. It may just require laying some foundations and applying the non-existent things that are required in this experiment. ”
He pointed out that the Football Association laid out a detailed plan to start realizing the dream of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, and said: “A good program has been put in place to prepare the team for the World Cup qualifiers and the Asian Cup qualifiers, as an initial list of 36 players was selected after we analyzed several videos And documenting this until it is compared to what I will see on the ground when I lead the team training. ”
He continued, "What attracted my attention is that the list will include a player I know is Sebastian Tigali, who previously played in the ranks of the Colombian Caldas in 2010, as he has played in the UAE for seven years, and joined the current transfer period to Al-Nasr Club."
He added: “I have already evaluated many aspects of the UAE national team, after seeing four recorded matches, through which I benefited in analyzing the different playing methods in which the team played, and knowing the method that suits the players, and also requested to obtain indicators of fat and muscle mass for each player. And the ages of each of them and all aspects that affect the payoff of the players ».
The Colombian coach concluded his statements by emphasizing that the UAE national camp will be held in Austria. He said: “There will be a short gathering for the national team this month after my arrival, before the initial preparation phase begins with traveling to Austria for three weeks starting from the first of August next, as this is The camp will reduce the number of players from 36 players to 24 or 25 players, while the other names will also be in the accounts of the technical staff in the coming period, while we will then return to the Emirates to play two friendly matches against Jordan and Tajikistan on 4 and 8 September next ».
The coach travels from Colombia with a plane dedicated to 200 athletes to Madrid before arriving in Dubai.
Pinto confirmed that the Football Association has drawn up a detailed action plan to achieve the dream of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.