Football: United Arab Emirates appoint ex-Japan manager Alberto Zaccheroni as their football coach

Dubai (AFP) - Italian Alberto Zaccheroni was Monday (Oct 16) named coach of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) football team, the Gulf state's football federation announced.

"The Emirati football federation has named the Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni to lead our national team," it said in a tweet.

According to local media reports, Zaccheroni signed a contract until 2019, the year when the UAE is scheduled to host the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Asian Cup, which he won with Japan in 2011.

Zaccheroni replaces Argentina's Edgardo Bauza, who was named as the UAE's head coach in May 2017, but moved on to become Saudi Arabia coach after their qualification to the 2018 World Cup.

Zaccheroni, 64, previously coached Chinese Super League's Beijing Guoan, Japan and Italian Serie A sides Juventus, Torino, Inter Milan, Lazio, AC Milan and Udinese.

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