"It's an exceptional dismissal."

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Football Association announced on the 26th (Korea time) through its official channel that it has decided to dismiss Coach Bento of Portuguese nationality and his coaching staff.

After leading UAE to a 2-1 victory against North Korea in the 8th match of Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers held at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Coach Bento was dismissed.

With the victory over North Korea, UAE recorded 4 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses (13 points), placing them 3rd in Group A.

In this third round of the World Cup Qualifiers in North and Central America, the top two teams from each group will receive direct tickets to the finals. The matches are played in a home-and-away format, with each team playing 10 matches.

In Group A, Iran (20 points), the 'leader,' has already secured a spot in the finals regardless of the results of the remaining 2 matches. The competition for the 2nd place is between Uzbekistan (17 points) and UAE.

Even if UAE does not qualify directly for the finals, they have the opportunity to challenge for a spot in the finals again in the 4th round of qualifying, where the 3rd and 4th place teams from each group can participate.

In the upcoming 9th match, UAE will clash with 2nd place Uzbekistan. They must win to improve their ranking, but there is prevailing analysis that it will not be easy to defeat 'strong team' Uzbekistan, having barely won against the last place North Korea.

In this situation, the UAE Football Association opted for Coach Bento's dismissal.

Coach Bento took charge of the UAE national team on July 9, 2023. He signed a 3-year contract with the goal of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, but left the position with 1 year and 8 months remaining.

Immediately after his appointment, Coach Bento had a smooth start by winning 4-1 against Costa Rica in a friendly match. In the second round of the World Cup Asian Qualifiers that began in November 2023, they recorded 5 wins and 1 draw in 6 matches, finishing 1st in Group H and advancing to the final qualifiers.

In November 2024, Coach Bento attracted attention by winning 5-0 against Qatar in the third round of qualifying, and continued the hope of direct qualification for the World Cup by defeating North Korea 2-1 in March of this year.

However, public opinion worsened sharply after the 0-2 loss to Iran in the away match on March 20. Additionally, they narrowly defeated last place North Korea with a dramatic goal in stoppage time of the second half.

Under Coach Bento, UAE also failed to meet expectations in the Asian Cup.

In January 2024, at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup held in Qatar, UAE advanced to the Round of 16 with 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss in the group stage, but was eliminated after a penalty shootout against Tajikistan. This was a disappointing performance compared to the 4th place finish in 2019.

At that time, Coach Bento faced criticism for the decline in performance and for excluding Ali Mabkhout from the starting lineup.

Coach Bento led a total of 26 matches in UAE, recording 14 wins, 5 draws, and 7 losses. With a win rate of approximately 53.9%, he boasted a high level among recent UAE national team coaches, but had to step down due to early elimination from the Asian Cup and struggles in the latter half of the World Cup qualifiers.

Portugal's 'Sport 1' reported, "Coach Bento was dismissed from the UAE position just one day after the victory against North Korea. He took over as UAE coach in the summer of 2023. He was dismissed in disgrace while still in a competitive situation," and added, "The UAE Football Association plans to appoint a replacement soon."

/mcadoo@osen.co.,kr

[OSEN]