The former Paris Saint-Germain manager claims that he is proud to be the manager of one of the most prestigious sides in Middle East and reveals that he has no bitterness over the PSG sacking
For Antoine Kombouare, finding a place on the bench has never been easy. The Kanak coach was fired right after leading PSG to a first place finish in the first half of last season’s Championnat. PSG ended 2011 as winter champions but it was not enough for
the club’s Qatari owners who replaced the former Valenciennes coach with Carlo Ancelotti who ended the same campaign in second place behind eventual champions Montpellier Herault.
Since then, Kombouare has not been able to land a new http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684. However, yesterday, Kombouare was officially named the new manager of Saudi football giants Al-Hilal which safe to say, is not really the sort of destination the Frenchman initially expected.
While talking to reporters, Kombouare admitted that he dreamt of coaching in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 but nothing materialised.
“Initially, I dreamed of going to England. It was in March-April, I was expecting a proposal but nothing came. A month ago, when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Al-Hilal-c38309 came up, I saw a great opportunity.”
Though, Kombouare admits that it was a good move from a financial move, the former PSG coach says that he joined Al-Hilal mainly due to its stature in the region.
“Of course this was financially favourable. But I would not have gone elsewhere in the Middle East. It is one of the most prestigious clubs in the region.”
So one cannot claim that Antoine Kombouare is disappointed at not being able to find a more prestigious dugout in Europe. The Kanak is very eager to move on from his sacking at PSG.
Despite maintaining his integrity despite such an unceremonious ousting, Kombouare harbours no bad feelings towards his former employers. Kombouare reveals that when he was named Al-Hilal coach, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was one of the first people
to congratulate him for that.
“From the beginning, I have forgotten that episode. What’s important is that I left on good terms with everyone. Nasser Al-Khelaifi even called to congratulate me for having signed with Al-Hilal. What happened at Paris leaves me with no remorse or bitterness.
I will always be the club’s supporter.”
An honest man with a big heart, Al-Hilal have perhaps struck gold.
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