JEDDAH, 16 March 2006 — Bruno Metsu has been named coach of Al-Ittihad club, succeeding Romanian Anghel Iordanescu who was given the boot last week. Ittihad reportedly signed Metsu to a contract valued at $3 million.
Metsu, a Frenchman, arrived here on Tuesday. He will take over the reins at Ittihad for 14 months as head coach. His first match will be against Al-Hilal club on Friday. He was formally introduced before the team training yesterday. Metsu has a good record in coaching. He led Al-Ain of UAE to the first AFC Champions League trophy in 2003. He was also the head coach of Senegal in World Cup 2002 in Korea-Japan, in which the team achieved very fine results and advanced to the semifinals.
Ittihad team manager Hamad Al-Sanie believes that the back-to-back AFC Champions League winners’ appointment of Metsu, has created ‘the perfect combination’.
“With Metsu’s great experience in Asia and the region and our experience in the AFC Champions League and our skilled players, we have created the perfect combination,” Al Sanie said on the website of AFC afcchampionsleague.com.
After piloting Senegal to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup Metsu joined Al Ain and made history as the head coach of the first AFC Champions League winning side and of the first team from the UAE to win continental honors. Although Metsu extended his contract with Al Ain he caused a stir when he joined Al Gharafa but he remained unaffected by the controversy surrounding the move across the Gulf as his new team romped to the 2004-05 Qatar League title.
Al Gharafa’s form nosedived this season although Metsu was still in high demand, with the Frenchman strongly linked with Turkish side Besitkas and the national teams of Korea Republic and the UAE. Metsu reportedly made a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ to take over the managerial reins of the UAE in June when his contract with Al Gharafa expires but the offer from Jeddah-based Ittihad club and the chance for AFC Champions League glory for a second time was too much to turn down. The Qatari club agreed to release Metsu paving the way for his move to Saudi Arabia.
