By David Gold
September 1 – Zico, the legendary Brazilian midfielder, has taken over as coach of the Iraqi national team, as the 2007 Asian Cup winners look for fresh inspiration following poor Gulf Cup and Asian Cup tournaments in the last year.
Iraq, having won the 2007 Asian Cup, were knocked out of the competition in the quarter-finals to beaten finalists Australia in January.
And they suffered a shock defeat to Kuwait last November on penalties at the semi-final stage in the Gulf Cup.
Iraq’s Football Federation President Najih Hamoud revealed to the Associated Press that they had agreed a one-year deal for the Brazilian, who previously coached Japan and led them to the Asian Cup in 2004 and the World Cup in 2006.
Zico scored 52 times in 72 games during an illustrious career for Brazil, and though he played in three World Cup finals, he never lifted the famous trophy.
He has also previously taken charge of Turkish side Fenerbahçe, CSKA Moscow and Flamengo.
“The deal with Zico is done and he started his work,” said Hamoud.
“We hope to see good results by Zico and our national team.”
Zico replaces German coach Wolfgang Sidka, whose own one-year deal ended this month.
A ceremony will be held to mark Zico’s confirmation as coach next month in Baghdad.
His attention though will turn immediately to this week’s World Cup qualifiers with Jordan and Singapore, ahead of the match with China, who are also in Group A of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, with the top two sides in the group going through to the next round for a chance to qualify to go to Brazil in three years.
Zico is the latest high profile Brazilian to take up a coaching post in the Gulf region this week, with Paulo Autuori agreeing to coach Qatar’s Olympic football team and Dunga, who coached Brazil during the 2010 World Cup before being fired, taking charge of Autuori’s former team Al-Rayyan.
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