Jorge Fossati is set to take over the reins of the Qatar football team after fellow Uruguayan Jose Daniel Carreno was sacked yesterday, just a fortnight ahead of a crucial 2018 qualifier in South Korea.
Qatar football authorities decided to end Carreno’s association with the team following recent back-to-back defeats against Iran and Uzbekistan which left Qatar’s hopes of making the World Cup in Russia in two years’ time in serious trouble.
Fossati, who has had a short stint as Qatar’s head coach a few years ago, is currently in charge of defending Qatar Stars League champions Al Rayyan. He is expected to meet top officials of the Qatar Football Association today to discuss terms and conditions of his contract.
“Qatar is a special country for me and I cannot refuse an offer (to coach the team) if it is made to me,” Fossati said after yesterday’s QSL match between Al Rayyan and Umm Salal which ended in a goalless draw.
Fossati was coach of the national team in 2007-8 but had to leave after it emerged it would take a long time for him to recover from an operation.
A Qatar Football Association spokesman told AFP yesterday that there would be an announcement of a new coach shortly.
“The new coach will be someone from Doha, a coach from Doha,” said the spokesman. Asked if Carreno had lost his job because of World Cup qualifying results, the spokesman replied: “For sure.”
Qatar are desperate to reach its first finals in 2018.
If Qatar fail to do so, they will become the first team to host a World Cup finals without previously qualifying since Italy way back in 1934. Fossati, 63, who played as a goalkeeper for several clubs in South America, has had a long and varied career. He coached the Uruguayan national team for two years from 2004.
In case, Fossati fails to come to an agreement with the QFA, the other leading candidate is French-born Algerian Djamel Belmadi.
The former Southampton player coached the national team in 2014-15, when Qatar won the Gulf championship.  He currently coaches QSL side Lekhwiya.
Completing the managerial merry-go-round, Carreno is expected to become the new manager of Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, after they fired their Uruguayan coach Gustavo Matosas on Thursday.
Carreno’s fate was sealed following a meeting on Thursday.
Despite serene progress through the AFC’s second round of qualifying, where Qatar topped their group and won seven of their eight games, the 53-year-old has paid the price for the Gulf country’s disastrous start to Round 3.