(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Tunisia head coach Nabil Maaloul has stepped down from his role with the national team to join Al Duhail as their new manager, the QNB Stars League club said yesterday.
Maaloul, who has prior coaching experience in Qatar with El Jaish, will take the reins of Al Duhail from Djamel Belmadi, who left the club for ‘special reasons' and is widely expected to be named as the Algerian national team's new manager.
Maaloul, who will turn 56 next month, rejoined the north African side last April and helped the team qualify for this year's World Cup in Russia. Maaloul was in charge of El Jaish who merged with Lekhwiya to form Al Duhail in 2014 and then had a two-year spell at the helm of Kuwait before his most recent job with Tunisia, which saw him taking on England, Belgium and Panama at the World Cup.
'The club's management contracted with the Tunisian coach Nabil Maaloul to be the new technical manager of the first football team... Al Duhail said on their website. 'Coach Nabil Maaloul will arrive to Austria in the upcoming hours to join the team's camp which is held in Austria these days.
Although smarting from an unsuccessful World Cup campaign in Russia, where Tunisia managed just one win to exit the tournament early, the federation was keen on retaining Maaloul as coach. But Duhail are said to have tabled an irresistible offer which lured him Qatar.
After he tendered his resignation, Tunisia had to convene an emergency meeting where they granted him his wish to leave his post. '…the Tunisian Football Federation by mutual consent and after deliberation decides the following: Approval of cancellation of the contract between the Tunisian Football Federation and coach Nabil Maaloul by mutual consent, said Tunisia in a statement.
This was Maaloul's second stint as Tunisia head coach which began in April last year, helping them qualify for the World Cup after missing the 2010 and 2014 editions. In Russia, he also guided the Carthage Eagles to their first World Cup victory in 40 years after they beat Panama 2-1 in their last group game, following earlier defeats to England and Belgium. He could not help the North Africans break the jinx of failing to progress past the group stages for the first time in their tournament history. At Duhail, Maaloul will be reunited with Tunisia star forward Youssef Msakni who is highly-regarded as the Tunisian Lionel Messi.
The club's management thanked Belmadi ‘for his achievements with the club'. Under Belmadi, Duhail raised the bar and much of that credit goes to the Algerian, who marshalled his team efficiently. He was also voted as the best coach at the Qatar Football Association's awards ceremony in May, and he signed off the season with the Amir Cup triumph.
Under Belmadi, Duhail became the first team in Qatar to claim the treble as they won the league, Qatar Cup and Amir Cup last season. In addition, the Red Knights are also through to the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League and are among the favourites to go all the way, having won all eight of their continental matches thus far in 2018.
The 42-year-old consistently produced excellent results. His method has been keeping it simple and not complicating things, with Duhail's game revolving around one-two touches and playing with speed.
Belmadi made it big when he led Qatar to the Gulf Cup triumph in 2014 and has not looked back since then. He also enjoyed as much success with Lekhwiya, whom he led to four league titles before it was merged with El Jaish last year and Duhail was created.
Now under new coach Maaloul it remains to be seen whether Duhail can reach the same heights that they did with Belmadi. Although a managerial change is far from ideal in the midst of a title charge, Duhail's new manager is an experienced tactician who is no stranger to Qatari football.
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