Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Male: The Maldives will face Yemen in the second leg of their 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying play-off under assistant coach Ismail Mahfooz after the Indian Ocean Islanders terminated the contract of head coach Ricki Herbert.
Herbert’s tenure came to an end following last week’s home defeat to Yemen, which was the Maldives’ 11th since the former New Zealand national team boss (pictured) took charge of the 2008 SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championship last September.
“For the time being it was the best solution. We had a meeting with coach Herbert and he also wanted to find a solution for this,” FAM (Football Association of the Maldives) President Ahmed Thariq said at a press conference in Male.
“I would like to thank Ricki Herbert for his service to the Maldives football.”
Herbert’s last match at the helm of the Maldives ended in a surprise 2-0 home loss to Yemen after goals from Aiman Al Hagri and Akram Hamood gave the West Asians the upper hand going into Tuesday’s return fixture, which will be played in Qatar due to the security situation in Yemen.
The five winners in the first round of the play-offs will advance to the third round of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, while the defeated teams will join Bhutan in the next phase of the play-offs, which will take place on September 6 and October 11 to battle it out for three more spots in the third qualifying round.
Photo: AFP