ABU DHABI // Luis Milla, the new
[ Al Jazira ]
coach, says he is ready for a challenging start to his job, including his first league game which is a potential title decider away at Al Ain.
Jazira play Tractor Sazi Tabriz of Iran away in their Asian Champions League opener on Tuesday and then face
[ Al Ain ]
in a top-of-the-table clash in the Pro League on March 3.
Beat Al Ain, and they are only three points behind the league leaders. Lose and their title challenge is all but over.
"It is a new challenge not only to have to prepare the team for two of tough games but to take charge of a club team for the first time outside Spain," Milla said when he was officially unveiled at the club today.
"We don't have too much time to prepare for the first game. We have three days and we will start with something that we can adapt very quickly between the players and the coach.
"Here I am dealing with professional players and we will seek their assistance to go the best way forward in my first game in charge. We have made some study of our opponents and we will play to get a good result."
Milla's first job as a professional coach was in 2007/2008 with the Primera Liga club Getafe as assistant to Michael Luadrup, the former Danish international and the current Swansea City coach.
He was appointed the Spain Under 19 coach in 2008 and was in charge of the age group teams and Olympic team. As a player, he had spells with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia from 1985 until 2001.
apassela@thenational.ae
Follow us
[ @SprtNationalUAE ]
