Riyadh: The Kuwait Football Association (KFA) have announced they are sticking with coach Jorvan Vieira despite failing to get beyond the group stages of the ongoing Gulf Cup after a 5-0 loss to Oman.
The tournament’s record 10-time champions had been top of Group B heading into the final group game and only needed to draw to qualify for the semi-finals following a 1-0 win over Iraq and a 2-2 draw with the UAE.
However, a hat-trick from Saeed Salim Al Ruzaiqi with two goals from Abdul Aziz Al Muqbali either side, put Kuwait out of the competition early.
Shaikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah, president of the KFA, has spoken out in support of coach Vieira. “We all bear the responsibility for this defeat, not the head coach [Jorvan Vieira] alone,” he said. “The team completely lost their concentration and were not up to the standards we have been used to seeing in the past.”
He added that the coaching staff will resume their duties, and the defeat does not mean the sacking of the coach or anyone else among the support staff.
“Everyone will continue [their role]. Global sides have exited the early rounds of international competitions and this is normal in the world of football.
“This is football, it is God’s will,” he added. “I want [to win] and you want [to win], but God does what he wants.”
Vieira had been one of the true characters of the tournament having misinterpreted a quote from UAE coach Mahdi Ali, to start an unnecessary war of words with the Emirati.
When asked if Vieira’s UAE experience - having managed Ittihad Kalba, Sharjah and Bani Yas - would help The Blues overcome The Whites, Ali acknowledged Vieira’s insight but simply said his own experience of the region would help neutralise the battle. This got mistranslated or sensationalised in the Arabic press to say ‘Vieira knows nothing’, prompting an angry backlash from Vieira, who said he deserved respect for having won the 2007 Asian Cup with Iraq. He then said he would prove his coaching credentials one more time in Riyadh, something that wasn’t to be.
In 25 matches in charge of Kuwait, Vieira has now won nine, drawn eight, lost eight, finishing second in his team’s 2015 Asian Cup qualifying group, and fourth in the 2014 West Asian Championships.
For January’s Asian Cup, Kuwait will have a tough test in Group A with hosts Australia and South Korea before an ironic last group game encounter with their bogey-side Oman.
Elsewhere, Bahrain sacked their coach Adnan Hamad and replaced him with caretaker coach Marjan Eid, before their final Gulf Cup group game with Qatar 0-0, after a 0-0 draw with Yemen and a 3-0 defeat to hosts Saudi Arabia. The fate of Hakeem Shaker and Miroslav Soukup, from fellow eliminated sides Iraq and Yemen, meanwhile, hangs in the balance.
