Sergio Batista (right) poses with officials during his unveiling as new Qatar SC coach.
Doha: Struggling QNB Stars League outfit Qatar SC have roped in former Argentine national team manager Sergio Batista as the new coach.
The 55-year-old will lead Qatar SC - who fired Abdulla Mubarak after a series of poor results - until the end of the 2018-19 season.
Sheikh Jassem bin Hamad bin Nasser Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar SC, welcomed the new coach and thanked out-going coach Mubarak and interim coach Yousuf Al Nubi for their services.
The Chairman of club said: “The negotiations with the Argentine coach have been going on for a long period of time and the club decided to avail his services after going through his track record, which was the best among several coaches we were looking at.”
“We hope that his addition to the team will provide a new direction and bring about a change in our fortunes for the rest of the season,” he said.
Batista coached the Argentina national team during the 2010 to 2011 period but stepped down after his team failed to make it past the quarter-finals stage of the Copa America in 2011. Since then, Batista has been in China and Bahrain, but after a short break, he resumes his coaching career in Qatar.
He coached the Bahrain team for the 2015-16 period while serving Shanghai Shenhua from 2012 to 2014.
Batista said he was happy to be part of the Qatar SC and appreciated the confidence reposed in him by the club management.
“I am happy to be in Qatar and waiting for a new experience to unfold,” Batista said during his unveiling ceremony.
“Everybody at the club is serious to work hard and bring more wins,” Batista added.
“We will work to rectify our mistakes but that will require a lot of work and needs the support of everyone in the club,” he added.
The coach will have a tough job ahead of him. Qatar SC have only four points in the first seven QNB Stars League matches.
The club has in its ranks former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o and the new coach will be looking forward to his goal-scoring skills and his own experience of coaching to take the club forward in the remaining matches of the league. Batista watched Qatar SC match against Al Sadd, which his new club lost 5-1. However, Batista will be looking to end their miserable run in the remain QNB Stars League fixtures. The only goal was scored by Eto’o. Batista has a lot to change to get the team out of the rut although his experience should help.
The new coach said: “I saw the players during the previous game and I am confident in their abilities to deliver positive results during the next stage, especially as the team has good quality players.”
