Fresh from his profitable coaching stint with the Egyptian nationwide aspect, Roger de Sa will fly to Tehran on Sunday to hitch Carlos Queiroz as assistant coach to the Iranian nationwide aspect for their 2022 Soccer World Cup marketing campaign.
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This will likely be Roger de Sa’s fourth function coaching a nationwide team and his second working with a nationwide squad by means of a World Cup marketing campaign.
With mere weeks till kick-off in Qatar, the coaches will spend a number of days in Tehran with the squad forward of friendlies in Austria, starting the choice course of for the ultimate squad for their Group B match towards England on 21 November.
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De Sa is happy to be heading to a different World Cup, and says of Iran’s prospects: “Once you qualify for the World Cup you give yourself a realistic chance, and with the tournament being held in Qatar, it evens it out a bit more because you are not playing in Europe, you are not playing in South America, so its almost a neutral venue. The heat and humidity will be a challenge for many of the players in the tournament. We have a short time to prepare, not ideal, ideally we would have been there for a year but Carlos knows the team and the players know him, as he coached them in the last two World Cups.”
The gruelling schedule begins this week once they assemble in Tehran.
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“Wednesday and Thursday we start training with the team. Saturday we train again, and then we fly to Austria where we play Uruguay and Senegal. We return to Iran where we continue the scouting process with the team. These two games will give us a good idea. I may fly to Europe to watch some of the players with their clubs, and we we will probably train in Dubai for a week before we go to Qatar.”
Roger de Sa began his coaching profession with Bidvest Wits, after a profitable enjoying profession that noticed him characterize Bafana Bafana, Mamelodi Sundowns, Moroka Swallows and Wits.
Roger de Sa labored with Queiroz at Bafana Bafana
He went on to educate Orlando Pirates, Ajax Cape Town and Platinum Stars amongst others, working as Bafana Bafana goalkeeper coach when Queiroz was with the team from 2000-2002.
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The pair labored collectively once more in 2010 when Queiroz coached Portugal within the 2010 Soccer World Cup and he known as on De Sa to hitch him, after which in 2021 De Sa joined Queiroz with the Egyptian nationwide aspect.
“We had a 9 month gig there. When we have been known as in to work with Egypt they have been out of the highest twenty in Africa, which is uncommon for a rustic like Egypt, so that they have been struggling and we managed to get some good outcomes early on. We made it to the ultimate of the AFCON, beating lots of high groups to achieve the ultimate, which we misplaced to Senegal on a penalty shootout. We over-achieved within the Cup of Nations; by the point we completed we have been fourth or fifth in Africa. We beat Morocco, Ivory Coast and Cameroon, the host team.
“The World Cup qualifier we sadly misplaced once more to Senegal in a penalty shootout. Our objective was to qualify for the World Cup, which we didn’t obtain. We have left a very good vibe in Egypt however I couldn’t commit long-term to staying there.”
Roger de Sa is one of only a handful of athletes to have represented his nation in three sports activities, and in the identical 12 months performed soccer, indoor soccer and basketball for South Africa.
He sees himself as a good friend to the gamers: “When I become a coach, priority number one is that I am a human being and so is the player – that is number one. I think Carlos is the same. Many coaches forget that, I think. I will be their coach for a year or two maybe, but we can be friends until we die.”