After Paulo Bento's dismissal as head coach, criticism has continued.

The UAE Football Association announced on the 26th (Korea time) through its official channel that it has decided to terminate the contract of Portuguese national Bento and his coaching staff.

On that day, following UAE's 2-1 victory against North Korea in the 8th match of Group A in the third qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asia region held at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Bento was dismissed.

After defeating North Korea, the UAE recorded 4 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses (13 points), positioning themselves in 3rd place in Group A.

In this third qualifying round of the World Cup in Asia for North and Central America, the top two teams from each group are awarded direct tickets to the main tournament. A total of 10 matches are played in a home-and-away format.

In Group A, Iran (20 points), who is in the 'lead', has already secured their spot in the main tournament regardless of the results of the remaining two matches. The structure is competitive for the 2nd place spot between Uzbekistan (17 points) and the UAE.

Even if the UAE fails to secure direct entry to the main tournament, they can challenge for a spot again in the fourth qualifying round, which allows for teams finishing 3rd and 4th in each group.

In the upcoming 9th match, the UAE will face 2nd placed Uzbekistan. They must win to improve their ranking, but it is widely analyzed that defeating 'strong' Uzbekistan will not be easy, especially since they barely won against bottom-placed North Korea.

In this situation, the UAE Football Association chose to dismiss Coach Bento.

Coach Bento took charge of the UAE national team on July 9, 2023. He signed a three-year contract aiming for qualification for the 2026 North and Central America World Cup but stepped down with 1 year and 8 months remaining in his tenure.

Immediately after taking office, Coach Bento had a smooth start with a 4-1 victory in a friendly match against Costa Rica. In the second qualifying round of the World Cup Asia, which started in November 2023, he recorded 5 wins and 1 draw in 6 matches, finishing 1st in Group H and advancing to the final qualifying round.

In November 2024, Coach Bento gained attention with a 5-0 victory against Qatar in the third qualifying round, and in March of this year, he continued the hope of direct entry to the World Cup with a 2-1 victory over North Korea.

However, after losing 0-2 in an away match to Iran on March 20, public opinion rapidly deteriorated. Additionally, they barely secured a win against bottom-placed North Korea with a dramatic late goal.

In the Asian Cup as well, the UAE under Coach Bento did not meet expectations.

In the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup held in Qatar in January 2024, the 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 result compared to their semi-final performance in 2019.

At that time, Coach Bento faced criticism from public opinion due to the decline in performance and the exclusion of Ali Mabkhout from the starting lineup.

Coach Bento oversaw a total of 26 matches in the UAE, achieving 14 wins, 5 draws, and 7 losses. His winning percentage of approximately 53.9% was among the highest levels compared to recent UAE national team coaches; however, the early exit from the Asian Cup and poor performance in the second half of the World Cup third qualifying round led him to resign.

UAE Al-Ittihad Al-Yawm noted, "Coach Bento had faced criticism numerous times regarding tactics and player utilization during his tenure with the UAE national team," analyzing the background of his dismissal.

Moataz Abdulla, a former national team goalkeeper who played a total of 27 A matches for the UAE national team, stated, "After the 0-2 loss against Iran, Coach Bento lost the trust of fans," adding, "While individual skills are good, UAE's cohesiveness is lacking."

In preparation for the away match against Iran and the home match against North Korea, the UAE Football Association naturalized as many as 8 players from Brazil competing in the UAE league to make a decisive move, but it is reported that they did not have a significant effect.

In the Asian Cup, the UAE under Coach Bento failed to meet expectations.

Since the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup held in Qatar last year, they have not met expectations. The UAE aimed for a result of at least the semi-finals, but ultimately stopped in the Round of 16.

They even lost in a penalty shootout to Tajikistan, a team they could consider a lesser opponent. At that time, the UAE fell behind after conceding an early goal to Tajikistan. Just before the end of the second half, a dramatic equalizer led to extra time. At that point, the UAE needed to win decisively, but went to a penalty shootout and ultimately collapsed.

UAE dominated Tajikistan in terms of possession with 65.5% and attempted 769 passes according to Coach Bento's philosophy. However, there was not a significant difference in the number of shots, with 18 to 16, and the number of on-target shots was the same at 6-6, making the lack of tangible outcomes against Tajikistan painful.

Tajikistan's FIFA ranking is 99th, while the UAE is ranked 63rd. This is the current ranking.

It is inevitable to be disappointed with Coach Bento since the Round of 16 result in the Asian Cup is the worst performance for the UAE in recent history. Their best historic result in the Asian Cup was the runner-up in the tournament held in their own country in 1996. Since then, their performance has been quiet, but they recently showed improvement. They placed 3rd in the 2015 Australian tournament, and successfully advanced to the semi-finals in the previous 2019 tournament held in the UAE.

Since then, the relationship between the UAE and Coach Bento has become strained. Direct criticism has escalated. At that time, Coach Bento stated, "I have confidence in the project after the Asian Cup. We need to think about what parts did not go well. I provided opportunities to new players in this tournament. They will be players who will greatly help the team later on," looking towards the future.

Gulf Sports explained, "The UAE Association has expressed dissatisfaction with Bento's coaching style. Bento has strong opinions and stubbornness, leading the Football Association to conclude that he is not a high-level coach."

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