Where next for Saudi national team after Mancini’s departure?

Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - RIYADH: It has been weeks, perhaps even months, in the making, but was finally made official in the past week — Saudi Arabia and Roberto Mancini have parted ways, just over a year after the Italian was named head coach of the national football team.

Mancini took the reins shortly after winning the European Championships with Italy in 2021, and his appointment appeared to be a coup for a Saudi side still basking in the afterglow of their historic win over Argentina at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

But a disastrous AFC Asian Cup campaign, with Mancini walking out on his side during their penalty shootout loss to South Korea, did little to endear the 59-year-old to the Saudi faithful.

Following a slow start to World Cup qualifying, with just a single win after four matches, including three at home, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation decided to act.

Now, with less than three weeks until their next encounter — a must-win trip to Melbourne to face a resurgent Australian outfit — the biggest question is who will replace the veteran Italian?

The SAFF’s choice will tell us a lot about the direction they want the team to take. Do they go for another big name, like Mancini? Do they look local and give the opportunity to an emerging coach? Or do they go for sentiment and welcome a favorite son back into the fold?

With the rumor mill kicking into overdrive, we take a look at some of the names already linked to the vacancy.

Herve Renard

The most obvious option is former coach Herve Renard. If the SAFF had their way, he would still be in charge, given they handed him a contract extension in May 2022 that would have seen him through until 2027, when the country is due to host the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in its history.

They were blindsided when the Frenchman resigned to take up a role as coach of the French women’s team ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but having departed Les Bleues after their recent Olympic Games campaign, the 56-year-old is a free agent and looking for work.

There are obvious reasons why turning to Renard would make sense for a federation and team in desperate need of stability. In his previous reign, he molded this Saudi side into one of the continent’s best, a team capable of challenging the world’s top lineups. Who could forget that incredible win over Argentina at Lusail Stadium?

Along the way, in World Cup qualifying, they were a formidable outfit, with wins over Japan and Australia, even holding the Socceroos to a draw on the road. And they actually topped the group, finishing ahead of both Japan and Australia.

Having been drawn with the same two nations for this campaign, they have already suffered a loss at home to Japan — the first time Japan have won on Saudi soil — and next up face a trip to Australia.

Knowing this team, and the nuances and culture of Saudi football, Renard would be a safe pair of hands at a time when stability is needed. The question is, having walked away once already, does he want to return?

Tite

No sooner had Mancini’s departure been made official than rumors began to swirl that the 63-year-old Brazilian was in the mix to replace the Italian.

The former Selecao manager, who led Brazil to Copa America success in 2019, would fit the brief as a high-profile coach having also won the Copa Libertadores and FIFA Club World Cup with Corinthians, both back in 2012.

His record, particularly with Brazil, cannot be faulted. In 2016, he inherited a Brazilian side still suffering from the trauma of the 7-1 humiliation by Germany on home soil two years earlier. At the time Brazil were sixth in CONMEBOL qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and at risk of the unthinkable, missing qualification for the first time in their history.

However, Tite turned everything around. His six-year tenure in charge makes him Brazil’s longest-serving manager, and with a winning percentage of 74 percent — winning 60 of his 81 matches — also one of their most successful. He has lost only six matches across six years.

But two of those losses, in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup quarterfinals, left a sour aftertaste given how highly rated Brazil were heading into those tournaments. An exit at the final eight falls well short of expectations for a nation like Brazil.

While he has experience working in the UAE, with time spent at both Al-Ain and Al-Wahda, Tite would be a novice when it comes to Saudi Arabia. With their World Cup hopes at a crossroads, can they afford to risk a manager who would need time to get up to speed with the players and the environment within the country?

There is also the fact that, aside from two brief stints in the UAE, both of which ended prematurely, he has never worked outside Brazil in his 34 years as a manager. Is he a risk worth taking for Saudi Arabia?

Saleh Al-Mohammadi

Perhaps a left-field choice, Saleh Al-Mohammadi is considered the pick of the local options, perhaps even ahead of Saad Al-Shehri, who took Saudi Arabia all the way to the title at the U23 AFC Asian Cup in 2022.

Al-Mohammadi is a former Al-Ahli and national team player, and has spent significant time working in the national teams program as coach of the Kingdom’s under-19 team between 2020 and 2024, winning back-to-back U20 Arab Cups in 2021 and 2022.

During that time he worked with a number of players who have since stepped up to the senior side, including Abdullah Radif; Musab Al-Juwayr; and Marwan Al-Sahafi, who is impressing on loan in Belgium with Beerschot, where he scored twice in a recent win over Anderlecht.

More recently appointed head coach of Al-Hazem, Al-Mohammadi is one of very few Saudis afforded an opportunity in the top two divisions of Saudi football. He has the side third after the opening six rounds of the Saudi First Division League and winning plaudits for the manner in which they are performing.

Al-Mohammadi has the benefit of local knowledge and experience working within the national team set-ups, but is he experienced enough for the cut-and-thrust of a do-or-die World Cup qualification battle?